Rapid – led by returnee Guido Burgstaller – wants to stay on the road to success against Klagenfurt. “I hope we can start a series. That would be nice and we will give everything for it,” said Rapid captain Burgstaller, who will be celebrating his comeback in the league. The 34-year-old Carinthian has missed seven competitive games since the end of August after muscular problems in the adductors next to the pubic bone. Now the “life insurance” in the Rapid-Storm is ready for action again: a few days after Burgstaller celebrated a very special ÖFB comeback in Azerbaijan .
“It was a strange week, a lot happened,” said the goalscorer. He was spontaneously called up to the national team; his appearance in the 1-0 win only lasted twelve minutes and 20 seconds due to a yellow-red card in stoppage time. Afterwards, “Kurzstaller,” as the club’s social media department dubbed him, was duly welcomed to the training ground by his Rapid colleagues – dressed in red, white and red Burgstaller T-shirts and accompanied by the national anthem.
Bundesliga
Schedule and table
Admiral Bundesliga, eleventh round
Start at 5 p.m.:
Rapid – Austria Klagenfurt
Vienna, Allianz Stadium, SR Gishamer
Possible lineups:
Rapid: Hedl – Schick, Querfeld, Hofmann, Auer – Sattlberger, Kerschbaum – Kühn, Seidl, Grüll – Burgstaller
Austria Klagenfurt: Menzel – Gkezos, Mahrer, Wimmer – Bonnah, Irving, Benatelli, Gemicibasi, Schumacher – Karweina, Arweiler
ÖFB interlude as a running gag
“A very funny campaign, we laughed a lot about it. It all worked out wonderfully,” said Burgstaller. The T-shirts are now being sold as part of a charity campaign for a good cause. The striker’s health is also a reason for Rapid to the joy. “Basically I’m doing well. I’m glad that I’m healthy again and don’t have any major problems,” he explained. He’ll make up for the deficit in the physical area in the games. “The first two games always take a toll “It hurts a little more, but I can bite.”
With a 5-0 win at Austria Lustenau, the Green-Whites said goodbye to the international break with a sense of achievement. Now the team from Klagenfurt, who have so far collected one point more, should achieve their next groundbreaking success. “If we go by the table, Austria Klagenfurt is better,” said Zoran Barisic before his 200th competitive game as Rapid coach when asked about the role of favorites. “It will be an interesting game. I’m really looking forward to it and we’re on the right track.”
The Carinthians also went into the mini-break with a good feeling with the 2-2 draw against series champions Salzburg; after being 2-0 down, coach Peter Pacult’s team managed to equalize in the majority. “It was important for the boys to switch off and recharge their batteries,” emphasized Pacult. But now it’s time to build up the tension again. “They’ve done really well so far, but we haven’t achieved anything yet and we can’t let up.”
Altach and WAC
In Altach, both teams want to turn their form upwards again. “We want to challenge our opponents and score points. It has been difficult for every opponent to survive here so far,” explained Altach coach Joachim Standfest. After seven league games with only one defeat, they left the pitch in Linz two weeks ago as a 0-1 loser, but not as a significantly worse team. “We have played well against the big clubs so far but have not taken anything away. This is a development step that we have to take in the next few months,” emphasized Standfest.
Admiral Bundesliga, eleventh round
Start at 2:30 p.m.:
Altach – WAC
Altach, Cashpoint Arena, SR Talic
Possible lineups:
Altach: Stojanovic – Fe. Strauss, L. Gugganig, Koller – Ingolitsch, Jäger, Fadinger, Bähre, Lukacevic – Gebauer, Jurcec
WAC: Bonmann – Baumgartner, Piesinger, Scherzer – Veratschnig, Leitgeb, Altunashvili, Ibertsberger – Rieder – Bamba, Boakye
But he doesn’t want to make the championship group his goal. “If we’re not at the top, it won’t be a tragedy.” A conclusion will only be possible after the next games. Red Bull Salzburg (a), Rapid (h), WSG Tirol (a) and Austria Klagenfurt (h) are waiting. “These are opponents who, apart from the WSG, can certainly be placed above us. If we manage to stick with it, then things are looking pretty good for us.” Standfest praised the upcoming opponent in the highest tones. “They have improved quite a bit in quality this season,” said the 43-year-old.
Praise for opponents on both sides
His counterpart at Wolfsberg, Manfred Schmid, had similarly warm words for the team from the “Ländle”. “This is no longer the Altach from last season. “You have made a leap in terms of play,” said the former Vienna Austria coach. But he saw his troops prepared. During the international break we “trained very intensively and improved the processes”.
“We are on the right track, but we have to manage to show how dangerous we are going forward all the time,” said Schmid. “We have found a tribe, you can tell that we are more coordinated, that the processes are getting better.” This time the Wolves will make the long journey to Vorarlberg by bus and not by plane. The early game date leaves the people of Carinthia no other choice; arriving the day before would incur excessive costs.