On the penultimate matchday the decision to win the pool can already be made, but neither Alashkert (0 points) nor HJK Helsinki (3) can catch up with the other two teams, who each hold ten points. The first leg in Klagenfurt ended 1: 1, a win would definitely give LASK first place ahead of schedule. You have been promoted to the knockout phase since the fourth round, but with the group win you would go straight to the round of 16 (March) and save yourself the intermediate round (February) against a Europa League third.
And that is also the clear goal of the Upper Austrians. “Our aim is to fly to Israel to win there,” said Wieland. “The motivation is great.” Maccabi is clearly the toughest of the group opponents, that was already evident in the first leg, when they actually gave away two points. “We are aware that we are facing a good quality team and frenetic fans too,” said Wieland, referring to the 30,000-meter Boomfield Stadium.
LASK lifted off to Israel
The LASK set out for Israel. The penultimate Conference League group game will take place there.
“Are very greedy for number one”
Because Maccabi separated from Dutch coach Patrick van Leeuwen at the end of October and replaced him on an interim basis with Barak Itzhaki, Wieland expected “certain changes, but very little has changed in the play area”.
Fifth game day
Thursday, 9 p.m .:
Maccabi Tel Aviv – LASK
Tel Aviv, Bloomfield Stadium, SR Lesage (FRA)
Possible setups:
Maccabi: Peretz – Geraldes, Baltaxa, Hernandez, Davidzada – Glazer, Biton, Yeini – Kuwas, Perica, Kanichowsky
LASK: Schlager – Wiesinger, Boller, Luckeneder, Potzmann – Hong, Grgic – Goiginger, Horvath, Renner – Karamoko
In Tel Aviv there will be a duel between a home and an away European Cup troops. Maccabi won all five international games (including qualification) in front of their own audience, while LASK succeeded in all four games abroad (Vojvodina, St. Johnstone, Helsinki, Alashkert) – and all without conceding a goal. “We’re not going on vacation to Tel Aviv and are very greedy for first place,” midfielder Lukas Grgic also clarified.
Compared to the parquet at home, of course, an increase in performance is required for success. Despite the change in the system from three to four, LASK has not yet found the right footing, in the most recent 3: 3 against Sturm Graz, Alexander Schlager and Co. gave away a 3: 0 lead. Wieland didn’t just see playful problems in the second half. “It’s also about body language and mentality, I just don’t want to see that anymore,” emphasized the 38-year-old. “It will be important that we can maintain the intensity over the entire game.”
As was the case against Sturm, midfield director Peter Michorl was not on board on Wednesday after a coronavirus disease and defender Petar Filipovic after his hip operation. Striker Marko Raguz is not yet match-fit. In addition to the sporting incentive to be able to plan ahead of time for the round of 16, there would also be another reward for the Linzers: apart from the 500,000 euros bonus for the three points in Tel Aviv, UEFA would also give them twice as much Bonus: 650,000 instead of 325,000 euros.
