The performance of the Grazers in the top game in the first of ten games in the master group was not a gala, but a maturity that was enough to stay close to the Salzburgers who were just ahead.
After goals from Emanuel Emegha (6th) and Manprit Sarkaria (45+1) and Guido Burgstaller (17th), Otar Kiteishvili made the preliminary decision as the “joker” (70th). And proof that Sturm can rely on a long bench. Ilzer knows how to keep the big squad happy. “It’s about something bigger. We are part of a traditional club, and a traditional club has a memory that goes far beyond our time,” the coach explained his point of view.
Storm celebrates home win
Sturm Graz won the hit against Rapid 3-1 and are already eleven points ahead of their rivals from Vienna.
“We can make dreams come true”
As the only Salzburg hunter and cup semi-finalist, Graz has two more title chances this season. “We have the privilege of being able to write history in a traditional club that nobody will soon forget. That’s bigger than any one. If everyone is aware of giving everything for this cause, then in the end we will have good opportunities to realize our dreams,” said Ilzer, whose team remained undefeated against green and white for the ninth time in a row. The third duel of the season also went to black and white.
He called for the successful double pass between dream and reality (“deliver everything week after week”). “If there is still someone who does it better, then we have to congratulate.”
Rapid is annoyed by gifts
Zoran Barisic, as coach of the Viennese, was primarily annoyed after the 1: 3 in Styria about the gifts that were distributed, which his team did not get back in this form from the more stable opponent. “We weren’t smart enough.” “It’s a bit disappointing overall,” said Markuskatzer, Rapid’s sporting director, at Graz’s 1:3, “because after the derby (0:2 against Austria) you expected us to appear differently. I would have seen it similar to the derby. Little confidence in possession, way too many easy mistakes, and when you get goals like that, it’s hard to win here too.”
After the tenth league defeat of the season, Rapid find themselves in fifth place – one point behind Austria, four behind LASK and eleven behind Sturm.
Dream of a joint cup final
On Wednesday and Thursday, both of them will then work on the longed-for destination of Klagenfurt. “A cup final between Sturm Graz and Rapid Wien would have been appealing,” said Ilzer at the end of a successful day for him. His counterpart Barisic later jokingly confessed to going to church to light a candle for the fulfillment of the pious wish of the joint cup final (April 30th).
Rapid first meets Ried on Wednesday (8.30 p.m., live on ORF1). “We have a huge chance. Of course you have to show a different face. But we always played well against the supposedly weaker players, especially at home. The good thing about football is that it can quickly change again,” saidkatzer. Storm then meets LASK a day later on Thursday (8.30 p.m., live on ORF1).
Salzburg stays on course
The international break didn’t throw Salzburg off course. The 3-0 win in Klagenfurt gave the defending champions their eleventh away win in a row – a club record, as the “Red Bulls” put it. Although the Carinthians defended themselves in the first game without the goalscorer Markus Pink, who had moved to China, Salzburg’s “made-to-measure start” (coach Matthias Jaissle) was never to be shaken.
Salzburg wins easily
Red Bull Salzburg won easily at the start of the championship group of the Admiral Bundesliga in Klagenfurt.
The German apparently had concerns before the guest performance at Wörthersee. Finding the rhythm again after a two-week break with 15 professionals who had been seconded was “not a matter of course”, Jaissle stated. His eleven managed that. Salzburg’s pressure phase right at the start converted Oscar Gloukh into the lead. So the master was on course. It wasn’t really tight anymore. Jaissle saw a “very good performance” by his team, captain Andreas Ulmer an “absolutely deserved victory at this level”.
Having already failed in the ÖFB Cup, Salzburg can concentrate on the championship. The squad speaks for the leader. Even in the absence of the injured Fernando and Noah Okafor, Jaissle can afford to bring team striker Junior Adamu off the bench, as he did in Klagenfurt. “We have a broad squad, we have guys that we can add to,” said Salzburg’s coach. Adamu thanked him with the 3-0, which came with a delay, as did Benjamin Sesko’s penalty to make it 2-0. The video assistant referee (VAR) intervened on both occasions, and he rightly decided in favor of the guests twice.
Two home games are now waiting for Salzburg in the long-distance duel with the second storm. Austria will be in Wals-Siezenheim next week, followed by LASK. “We want to get full points in these games. Then I think we’re on the right track,” said Ulmer. The first of the two duels with Sturm is scheduled for April 23 in Graz.
Pink leaves a gap in Klagenfurt
The game should be quickly shelved for the Klagenfurt team. The suspended Peter Pacult saw in the stands tried, but offensively harmless hosts. Assistant coach Martin Lassnig, on behalf of his boss, said something positive: “You saw in the second half that we are competitive in the championship group.” Next Sunday we have to prove that away at Rapid.
Nicolas Binder, who was brought in by the Viennese in winter, started up front, he should close the gap after Markus Pink left. The future Shanghai professional said goodbye to the club during the break, for which statistically he has scored in almost every second competitive game (121 games/59 goals). “The offer from China was really good. I think for Klagenfurt too,” said Pink, who would not have extended his contract, which expired at the end of the season. If Pink was not allowed to leave in the winter after an offer from Italy from Reggina, the club let the striker go after reaching the championship group and the associated relegation.
President Herbert Matschek cited economic reasons. “Our club is dependent on transfer income, as the income from ticket sales and sponsorship is not sufficient to finance operations at this level. In these areas we are still lagging behind the sporting development of recent years, and it is about time that that changed,” said Matschek. In the 2021/22 financial year, Austria reported a negative result of EUR 3.15 million.