Preview of the home match against Sturm Graz

The 27th round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga has a home game against Sturm Graz in store for Austria Wien. The Violets will be looking to build on their strong performance in the Salzburg game against the league leaders on Wednesday evening (8:30 pm) and pick up points. Coach Stephan Helm enthuses about the positive energy in the Generali-Arena: ‘A lot is possible with this support.’

Three days after the home game against Red Bull Salzburg, Sturm Graz will visit Vienna. There is great anticipation for the match, not least because they want to build on Sunday's performance. ‘I think everyone in the stadium and watching on TV saw that it was a really good game and an advert for Austrian football. Unfortunately with an unlucky ending for us, because I think we deserved more for this performance’, said Stephan Helm.

Courageous, active and aggressive against Sturm Graz

However, the head coach is keen to emphasise that there will be no sitting back: ‘We won't be satisfied with the fact that we've now received a lot of positive feedback. The next game starts from scratch, everyone has to invest everything again, we have to be just as courageous, active and aggressive on the pitch as last time, that's absolutely clear.’

Sporting director Manuel Ortlechner talks about the mental and physical challenges in weeks like this one with three games: ‘It's obviously good for your head if you can do better three days later after a defeat. Physically, the focus is fully on regeneration in order to regain strength quickly. But that's exactly where I think we're in a very good position and I'd like to praise our athletics department and the medical department in general.’

Helm: ‘Incredible energy in the stadium’

Speaking of praise: Stephan Helm also has plenty of it for the atmosphere in the Generali-Arena. ‘When I think back, we were 0-2 down and the energy in the stadium was incredible. I think a lot is always possible with that kind of support from the stands.’ More than 13,100 tickets had been sold for the top match by Tuesday afternoon, and tickets are still available in the fan shop and at fak.at/tickets.

Apart from the long-term injuries to Ziad El Sheiwi and Florian Wustinger, the violet coaching team can call on almost the entire squad against Sturm Graz. Only Johannes Handl, who had to come off the pitch in the final stages on Sunday, is still a question mark.

‘If we put in a similar performance against Sturm as we did against Salzburg, then we'll be difficult to beat. We now have two games against the league leaders ahead of us and naturally want a sense of achievement’, said Ortlechner, who is impressed by the team's unity. ‘If someone is absent, for whatever reason, they are adequately replaced, which is also a strength.’