The starting position is clear. Austria are in third place before the last round, and fourth place (Q3 of the UEFA Europa Conference League) is no longer out of Austria's reach. A win would be tantamount to qualifying for the UEFA Europa League play-off and thus at least participating in the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

"The training week was very good. You can feel a positive excitement. The players are very focused. You can tell that we have a special game coming up. I think the guys are handling the situation well - they've had a lot of finals this season that they've played positively. The players have always responded well to extraordinary games," says coach Manfred Schmid.

"There is definitely something to celebrate"

With the 2-1 win in Klagenfurt, the team already managed to punch its European Cup ticket in the penultimate round; even with a defeat, the maximum threat is fourth place, which would put the Veilchen in the third qualifying round of the Conference League: "That already takes a lot of pressure off. I think the team is ready for the situation because there is something to celebrate either way: Whether it will be a huge party or just a small celebration, we will see on Saturday," Schmid described.

A draw against Sturm Graz would only be enough for third place if the parallel match between WAC and Rapid also ends in a draw. But Austria's focus is only on their own game: "We have to do our thing, win our game, then we will leave the pitch in third place - that is our clear goal," explains the Austria coach.

Squad news

Except for the three long-term injured Ziad El Sheiwi, Muharem Huskovic and Georg Teigl, all players are ready for the big season finale.