The Graz team have so far mastered the challenging start after the winter break brilliantly. Sturm continues to dance at three weddings and is still undefeated in 2024. The anticipation for the home hit is great despite the double burden including a few aches and pains.
“Sturm – Rapid is always special. We have three days until the game to get as fit as possible. Some people have little things. It means playing a focus game again, being back at the point so that we can create a top starting position for the championship group,” said Sturm sports director Andreas Schicker after the win against Slovan in the Conference League play-off first leg.
Sturm coach Christian Ilzer doesn’t want to overestimate the high level of stress immediately after the winter break. “We have a good, balanced squad,” emphasized the coach, who also doesn’t want to set priorities between the championship and the European Cup. “We want to deliver the best possible performance in all competitions. Now it’s the championship’s turn again on Sunday with the top game against Rapid Vienna. This is the most important game at the moment.”
Schedule and table
Admiral Bundesliga, 19. Round
Sunday, 5 p.m.:
Sturm Graz – Rapid
Graz, Merkur Arena, SR Altmann
Possible lineups:
Sturm: Jaros – Gazibegovic, Wüthrich, Lavalée, Schnegg – Gorenc Stankovic – Horvat, Kiteishvili, Prass – Biereth, Sarkaria
Rapid: Hedl – Kasanwirjo, Hofmann, Congolo, Auer – Sattlberger, Grgic – Lang, M. Seidl, Grüll – Mayulu
Bad result for Rapid in Graz
This also applies to Rapid. In Graz, however, the grapes have been hanging very high for the people of Hütteldorf for some time now. Since Ilzer has been in charge on the Mur, there have been four defeats and two draws in six away games for the green-whites. Most recently, Sturm had three bankruptcies in a row.
“It’s very difficult to get anything there away from home. But we still want to win there. I don’t see this as a bonus game, but as a game where there are three points that we want to get. “I don’t think we’re that far away from the storm,” said Rapid coach Robert Klauß.
Rapid needs dominance and control
The Viennese know how difficult the task is during Sturm. “They are a well-coordinated team, they are very intense. Counter-pressing, transition moments, playing on the second ball – they are simply at the top of the league with Salzburg. If you allow that to happen when you’re not awake, then you’ll have a problem,” explained Klauß
The Rapid coach wants to counteract the second-placed team with dominance and control. “The chance is that we are more likely to play the game that suits us. It is precisely this balance that will be important. If we play their game, we’ll definitely be second winners because they can do it better.”
Delicate failures at Rapid
In Graz, the German will have to do without the suspended central defender Leopold Querfeld and his injured captain Guido Burgstaller (hip). “We miss Leo because he communicates the organization, especially with free kicks and corners. “He’s a loss,” says Klauss. Burgstaller is hopeful that the striker will be fit again for the derby a round later. “Guido can’t do everything yet. But there is a positive trend.”
Incidentally, Sturm and Rapid, the two most dangerous teams against each other according to set pieces, meet. The Styrians have already refined 13 standard situations, Rapid ten. The Ilzer team showed particularly well when it came to corners (seven goals). The sixth-placed team from Vienna, which is defending a three-point cushion over seventh-placed Vienna Austria, sees itself well prepared here. “We are very good at defending set pieces. It’s about allowing fewer standards and then defending them with vigilance,” says Klauß.
2024-02-18 12:30:28
#Bundesliga #Sturm #meets #Rapid #tailwind
