Although it is Sturm Not really blossoming recently, Rapid trainer Peter Stöger but gives the opponent on Sunday (5 p.m.) in the Allianz Stadium roses: “This is the best team in Austria.”
But the Hütteldorfers can also feel like they are masters in one thing: the first An average of 22,086 fans came to the championship in the fourth quarter of the season, which is a record in the Bundesliga. The only time more came was in the 1949/1950 season (26,000). The green fan magnet only came close to this mark in the year the stadium opened (21,033), the previous year the average was 19,864.
22,000 tickets have already been sold for Sunday, and Sturm will bring around 2,000 fans. “For us, this is a signal of how much people are interested in the team. We want to make sure we do justice to that,” explained coach Peter Stöger.
But spectators don’t win games yet. It will depend on other things.
Tor
Will be back at Rapid Paul Gartler start. “As of now there is no reason to release Paul,” says Stöger. Starts with the people of Graz Matteo Bignettiwho recently became the match winner in the penalty shootout at Admira and is traveling to Vienna with a big chest.
defense
Stöger was the last to line up Triple chain around. “This means that the remaining defense works better than against LASK and Austria,” says Stöger. There were no goals conceded against Ried and St. Pölten. Sturm, on the other hand, had slight problems, especially at right-back. Most recently we were with returnees Adnan Malik a little safer.
Offensive
Sturm was also affected by the moods of the stars recently Otar Kiteishvili and Tomi Horvat dependent. “But we won’t chase anyone. The whole team is strong, they have a lot of speed up front,” says Stöger, but the other eleven players are more important to him. “But we want to concentrate on ourselves, we want to get our things done.” There was a 2-1 win in Graz in August Petter Dahl best man on the pitch. The Norwegian is already training lightly. A deployment is probably only expected after the international break. Sturm’s entire attack line only scored seven goals in ten league games (Grazer have one game less), Seedy Jatta scored at least three goals – the best striker scorer this season is Kiteishvili with six goals. Only he and Horvat scored in the Champions League. Best rapid shooter is Nicholas Wurmbrand with four hits. Rapid is counting on the 19-year-old, who recently played in the cup for the first time, on Sunday.
Mood
The recent victories over Ried and St. Pölten brought some relief to the Green-Whites. “The team has worked its way out of a difficult phase.” And storm? Rapid will probably show a better side again – all six away games this season have been won. That one on Sunday will be special. “Games against Rapid are always characterized by high intensity, a great atmosphere and two top teams who give nothing away. On Sunday we want to bring our virtues to the pitch and do everything we can to take points from Hütteldorf with us to Graz.” However: Of the last five games against Rapid, only one was won. And: in eight duels with Rapid and Austria there were six defeats.