The Altachers, who are unbeaten in seven games, want to stay in the race for second place, while the Linzers want to collect points in the relegation battle. With an increase of eight points over bottom team Austria Lustenau, Altach can calmly orientate itself upwards. Second place would possibly mean participation in the European Cup play-off.
In order to have legitimate hopes for this, an increase in performance is necessary. After Saturday’s game, coach Joachim Standfest confronted his players in the dressing room with a few things that had bothered him. “The analysis then confirmed what feeling I had in the game,” he said on Monday.
Altach looking for more consistency
After a good start in both halves, his team took the game a bit lightly and lacked consistency. “We were no longer as focused, no longer at 100 percent,” said Standfest. As a result, after the two 1:1 draws in the regular season, there was once again no winner.
Schedule and table
Qualifying group, 28th round
Tuesday, 8.30 p.m.:
Blue-White Linz – Altach
Hofmann Personal Stadium, SR Pfister
Possible lineups:
BW Linz: Schmid – Pasic, Maranda, Strauss – S. Seidl, Haudum, Briedl, Pirkl – Mensah, Ronivaldo, Noß
Altach: Schützenauer – Reiner, L. Gugganig, Koller – Bahloul, Fadinger, Jäger, Bähre, Ouedraogo – Gebauer, Nuhiu
This means that only Altach was able to win a direct duel in the ÖFB Cup round of 16 with a 2-0 win. “But that wasn’t a game where you could say that one team clearly prevailed. “It was always close games, so it’s important that you’re at the point,” emphasized Altach’s coach.
Nuhiu not too old for two games in quick succession
It remains to be seen whether Atdhe Nuhiu will storm up front again. The 34-year-old has only scored once in 23 games this season, which was on September 16, 2023 in a 1-1 draw at the Hofmann Personal Stadium. “It’s a difficult situation for him, you can tell he’s brooding,” said Standfest.
As far as fitness is concerned, two games within a short period of time would not be a problem for the veteran. “Pepe plays in the Champions League, championship, cup, he plays 400 games a year and is 41 or 42 and has extended again. That has nothing to do with age at all. It’s up to the player, there are also 22-year-olds who can’t play two games in a week,” said Standfest, describing his view.
Linz has been without a win since November
The people of Linz finally want to experience the feeling of winning again. The last sense of success was a long time ago with the 2-0 home win in the derby against LASK on November 12, 2023. 13 games with six defeats and seven draws followed. In the last five games, the points were shared four times.
The gap to the relegation zone is still five points. “We look to ourselves. We know that Lustenau will fight until the end, but we will do it too,” said coach Gerald Scheiblehner. The aim is to build on the “super performance” in Altach. However, that was without the suspended Marco Krainz.
2024-04-23 12:36:43
#Bundesliga #winner #Linz #Altach #duel
