Michael Wimmer’s team is now dealing with Legia Warsaw. The Poles beat the Kazakh team Ordabasy Schymkent with a total score of 5:4. Austria travel to Warsaw on August 10th and have home advantage in the second leg on August 17th.
The Bosnians took the lead with a header from Jose Cortes (49′) and briefly created tension. But Andreas Gruber (53rd) and Manuel Polster (65th) put the red-white-red representative back on course for promotion.
Gruber equalizes
In the 52nd minute, Andreas Gruber converted a Stangl pass from Manfred Fischer to make it 1-1.
If the “Violets” also master the third round, it would be a play-off against a probably high-class opponent for participation in the ECL group phase and thus valuable European Cup millions for the financially troubled Viennese. Austria survived a qualifying round in the European Cup for the first time since 2017.
Wimmer has to replace the goalscorer
Even without first-leg gold goal scorer Haris Tabakovic, Austria celebrated their second win in a row on the European stage. The top scorer recently switched to Hertha BSC in Berlin in the second German Bundesliga. After Tabakovic’s departure, Wimmer had to come up with new solutions on the offensive.
debate
Who is doing best in the qualification mill?
Without an assault tank, but with Gruber and Dominik Fitz in the center of attack, the Bosnians should be defeated again. Marvin Martins, who was suspended for three league games after a terrible foul in the 0-3 dress rehearsal against Sturm Graz on Sunday, paused in defense. Instead, Matteo Meisl, Polster and Gruber were in the starting XI.
Fireworks just before the match
The preparation for the match in Banja Luka was not without problems for the Wimmer-Elf. The night before the second leg, the fire alarm in the Wiener Hotel went off in the middle of the night and fireworks were also set off. “At three o’clock I thought it was New Year’s Eve next to me,” said Wimmer on ORF and laughed. The coach expected a “cauldron” in front of around 10,000 spectators at the Gradski Stadium, and the hosts got off to a better start.
UEFA Conference league
qualification
Austria goalie Christian Früchtl had to excel in a Celic header after four minutes. The Bundesliga-fifth of the previous season started incorrectly at temperatures of 27 degrees and with coordination problems, in addition to the constant striker Gruber Fitz and Manfred Fischer initially alternated as a second attacker. More than a harmless long-range shot by Fitz after 15 minutes did not succeed in the early stages, meanwhile the Bosnians acted more courageously than in the first leg.
Late cracker and 1-0 for Banja Luka
After 20 minutes, the Wimmer team took control, but Banja Luka was a little more dangerous. Jakov Blagaic rolled the ball into Früchtl’s hands from a tight angle (28′). After half an hour, Reinhold Ranftl had to leave the field due to injury. A second long-range shot by Fitz then presented Borac goalie Nikola Cetkovic with more problems (39′). Immediately after that, a shot from Aleksandar Jukic, whose father grew up in Banja Luka, was cleared off the line.
Shot from Banja Luka
Austria were lucky in the 41st minute when a long-range shot by Zoran Kvrzic hit the crossbar.
In return, Borac professional Zoran Kvrzic hit the ball on the lower bar (41st), it was the biggest chance in the first round. After the break, the game picked up speed. First Cortes headed the ball over the line from close range to make it 1-0 (49th), Ranftl substitute Marvin Potzmann looked really bad.
Goal for Banja Luka by Jose Cortes
Austria defender Marvin Potzmann made a bad impression when Banja Luka made it 1-0 in the 49th minute.
Austria responded with goals
However, Austria’s response followed promptly: over four stops, the violets combined in front of the Bosnians’ goal, and Gruber pushed a Fischer-Stanglpass over the line to score his sixth European Cup goal, the first for Austria. But Austria remained vulnerable to counterattacks in defense. After an hour, Stojan Vranjes miserably missed the brilliant opportunity to put the home side back in front after a counterattack.
Polster did it better, after a hook the winger hammered the ball into the short cross corner. The 20-year-old cheered in front of the home fans with a dormant gesture, arguably in reference to what happened that night. In the hectic final phase, in which Austria no longer played brilliantly, captain Fischer was lucky not to be sent off with a yellow card.
Comments on the game:
Michael Wimmer (Austria coach): “It was an emotional game, a cauldron. Banja Luka played it with a different energy than ours. We also had to rediscover ourselves a bit in terms of the system. At the end of the day, it might not have been deserved, but it wasn’t undeserved either. We are happy with the 2:1 and that we won.”
Manuel Upholstery: (Austria goalscorer to make it 2-1) “Every goal is important. I’m happy that I was able to give the team a bit of security. I’m also happy for myself, it’s not always easy for me. Banja Luka didn’t do badly, it was a hectic game, it went back and forth. We saw in the first leg that they have very fast players in transition and on the counterattack. It’s all the cooler that we were able to win.”
Andreas Gruber: (Austria goal scorer to make it 1-1) “We are overjoyed. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We fell behind, but that shows what a team we are. We equalized almost immediately and then accelerated. They (Banja Luka, ed.) knew that they could hurt us with high balls and their style of play. They had a long shot and one or two chances. But I think we defended it well.”
Europa Conference League Second Leg Second Qualifying Round
Thursday:
Borac Banja Luka – Austria Wien 1:2 (0:0)
Banja Luka, City Stadium, SR Schnyder (SUI)
Torfolge:
1:0 (49.) Cortes
1:1 (53.) Gruber
1: 2 (65th) cushion
Banja Luka: Cetkovic – Kvrzic, Celic, Susic (73. Pejovic), Herera – Barsky, Predragovic (79. Lukic) – Mihajlovic (57. Kulasin), Blagaic (57. Terzic), Cortes – Makaric (57. Vranjes)
Austria: Früchtl – Handl, Galvao (76th Plavotic), Meisl – Ranftl (30th Potzmann), Holland, Polster – Jukic (76th Braunöder), Fischer (76th Guenouche) – Fitz, Gruber (85th Huskovic)
Yellow cards: Cortes, Vranjes, Pejovic and Fischer, Holland, Potzmann, Polster, Huskovic
First leg 0:1, total score 1:3