On paper, LASK is by far the strongest team in the qualifying group, but in the event of a defeat it would have to deal with the fight to stay up in the league. In the environment of the Altach, on the other hand, there was even a lot of thinking regarding reaching the European Cup play-offs – which coach Ludovic Magnin might not understand. “It’s absolutely the wrong time to talk like that. We have to keep our feet on the ground.”
The Swiss also demanded and said: “We’re not taking off now, just as little as we gave up a few weeks ago. If each and every one of us delivers a factual and honest job, I am convinced that we will save ourselves in the end.”
Bundesliga, 27th round
Saturday, 5 p.m.:
Altach – LASK
Cashpoint-Arena, SR Hameter
Possible lineups:
Altach: Casali – Strauss, Zwischenbrugger, Nanizayamo – Mischitz, Haudum, Gaudino, Nimaga, Schreiner – Bishop, Monschein
LASK: Schlager – Flecker, Holland, Filipovic, Renner – B. Jovicic, Horvath, Michorl – Gruber, Balic, Goiginger
Magnin emphasized that his team is now solid. “If we win on Saturday, we’ll be level on points with LASK. Football can go so fast. But even two negative results once morest LASK wouldn’t blow us away,” promised the coach, looking ahead to the “second leg” in a week.
LASK has to do without seven players
The Linz coach Andreas Wieland has to do without seven professionals, mainly due to illness. The defenders Jan Boller, Yannis Letard, Marvin Potzmann, Filip Twardzik and Philipp Wiesinger as well as the strikers Marko Raguz and Alexander Schmidt are missing. Wieland, who recently came under criticism like his sports director Radovan Vujanovic, remains positive.
“Our absences also mean a chance for other players to prove themselves. I want to see an absolute hunger for success from everyone who is in the squad – not least we owe that to our fans,” Wieland was quoted as saying in a LASK broadcast. The 38-year-old has respect for the Vorarlbergers. “After their good performance, Altach will welcome us with confidence, so we have to fight back from the start.”
Monschein’s open account
With Monschein, the hosts also have a loan player from LASK in their squad. After his forced departure, he still has an open account, as he reported to the “Upper Austrian News”. “I accelerated during the winter vacation because I still had complaints from the past, I was completely focused on the LASK. On the first day following the holiday, I was told that no more plans would be made with me. You might have communicated that before the holiday,” said the former ÖFB team player.
In Altach, where he was loaned out, his enthusiasm for playing has meanwhile returned. “The fun is back and I can play from the start once more. Now we want to remain undefeated once morest LASK,” said the offensive player, who has four points in Altach. He came up with so many during the entire fall season at LASK.
