There SK Rapid said goodbye to the international break in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a confident 2-0 home win against Austria Klagenfurt. The trainer’s team Robert Klauss has finally established itself as Sturm Graz’s first challenger; as second in the league, they are three points behind the champions. “26 points is good. It looks good that we can put ourselves in a good starting position until the points are shared,” said Klauß.
The Hütteldorfers can be satisfied with the season so far – apart from the embarrassing cup exit against Stripfing. “This gives us a lot of self-confidence. Things are going well in the Conference League, where we have the best results. Unfortunately, we were eliminated from the cup, which hurts. We want to play optimally again in the next phase until Christmas and as much as possible points,” explained the German coach.
Longest home series since moving to the Allianz Stadium
Rapid can rely primarily on their home strength; the Allianz Stadium has become a real fortress. In the eleven competitive home games there was nine wins and two drawsonly against Braga and LASK you couldn’t win. This is the best home series for Rapid since the new stadium was built.
The Green-Whites didn’t let anything go wrong against Klagenfurt either. Despite a long list of injuries, Rapid showed a dominant game for long periods, with young players like the 18-year-old starting eleven debutant Jacob Schöller fit in seamlessly. “He brings a lot with him. He is fast, dynamic, has a good foot and also good form,” praised Klauss Schöller, who went back to school on Monday. After the victory and his debut, he went to school “with a really good feeling,” said the teenager.
Three days off during the break
During the international break, the focus is primarily on regeneration. “There will also be three days off so that everyone can take a breather,” said Klauß. The hope is that struggling players like Bendeguz Bolla (hips) or Dion Beljo (ankle joint) will then be available again. With the injured offensive force Isak Jansson The coach didn’t dare make any predictions yet. “He’s in individual training and is already doing a lot of things. Now it’s about gradually integrating him into team training. At the moment he’s pain-free.”
Klagenfurt coach Peter Pacult was disappointed with his team’s performance, especially before the break. “The duel behavior was missing, the aggressiveness, the ball security. We were very insecure in general.” The first use of a referee camera by referees Stefan Ebner said the 65-year-old in his typical manner. “I think it was just a test run today anyway. It certainly wasn’t fun or pleasant for Mr. Ebner either. I think we’ll put it back in the drawer.”
Relief at LASK
In contrast to Rapid, LASK had to fight hard for its victory in Altach. Just a double pack of Maximilian Entrup The finish made it 2-1 and brought great relief to the coach Markus Schopp. “From an emotional point of view, it is of course something very nice that we managed to turn the game around so late,” said the Styrian. “In the end it’s a very nice three points, it was very important to give full credit before the international break.” The Linz team moved up to seventh place thanks to their second win in their last six competitive games and also remained unbeaten in their 14th Bundesliga appearance in Altach.
Vorarlberg, on the other hand, has been waiting for a win for ten rounds and is only ahead of bottom team GAK due to a better goal difference. Coach Fabio Ingolitsch seemed under the weather. “It’s very annoying and simply hurts when you lead until the 90th minute, defend everything with all your heart and soul and then give the game away. We did our job well up until the 90th minute, but not the last four minutes “, said Joachim Standfest’s successor. Under Ingolitsch’s leadership there were three defeats and one draw in four championship matches.