It is important to decouple the “Salzburg thinking”, said Ilzer, despite the convincing success in Vienna favorites. The focus of the storm is not on this topic. “We can only influence what Salzburg does in direct duels,” said the 45-year-old, who, in addition to his squad, surprisingly also named Rapid, Austria and LASK, who had no chance on Sunday, as possible Salzburg hunters.
On the way to the first win of the season – the fifth win in a row against Austria – Sturm often had an easy time with the strong help of Austria. All three goals in Graz’s first successful start in four years resulted from standard situations. “We really train for that. The topic of standards has a clear place in our training plan,” said the storm coach.
Storm beats ten “violets” for sure
Runner-up Sturm Graz had a strong start to the new Bundesliga season. Graz celebrated an unchallenged 3-0 away win against Wiener Austria, who only played for long stretches with ten men.
The Grazers certainly benefited from the exclusion of Marvin Martins. The Austria defender saw red after a “kung fu” game against Alexander Prass after studying VAR. “I knew straight away that it was a red card. There was a lot of force, but I don’t want to imply any intention,” emphasized Ilzer. The fouled Prass was able to continue despite a cut. “It seems as if everything is okay,” the youngster gave the all-clear after the game.
New acquisition Szymon Wlodarczyk attracted attention again. The Polish striker seems to have forgotten the departure of Emanuel Emegha in Graz faster than expected. Wlodarczyk promptly followed up the three cup goals last week with the first league goal. “A great start for him. He’s a real snapper,” praised Ilzer. But also the defensive around David Affengruber knew how to convince right at the beginning of the season. “We kept a clean sheet and I scored. It was a successful working day for me,” summarized Affengruber.
Disillusionment at Austria
After the short-term euphoria due to the victories in the Cup and Conference League, Austria was disillusioned. “At the moment we’re not ready to beat Sturm Graz,” said captain Manfred Fischer. For the fifth time in a row, Austria had to bow to Grazers, and it was also the fifth defeat in a row. For Wimmer, the defeat was “deserved even at high altitude”.
Above all, the weak early phase was a thorn in the side of the 43-year-old German: “We didn’t have enough grip. Sturm had all the second balls, we just ran after them.” Austria seemed completely surprised by the high level of intensity from Graz. “We were actually prepared for it,” Wimmer complained. For Captain Fischer, it was mainly the goals conceded that caused trouble. These situations were trained yesterday. “That’s what we need to focus on. It will be in demand internationally. We overslept today,” says Fischer.
In any case, the “Violets” don’t have much time to overcome their frustration. “Check it off, everything else is useless. Our focus must be on faster regeneration and Thursday,” demanded Fischer. During the week, the “Violets” are challenged in the second leg of the Conference League qualifier in Banja Luka. In the league, guest appearances in Lustenau and Ligakroesus Salzburg are coming up.