Defending champions Red Bull Salzburg want to continue their run of success once morest WSG Tirol in the 18th round of the Bundesliga on Sunday (2.30 p.m.) with a rotation self. However, the Tyroleans are already unbeaten in six league games. At the same time, Wiener Austria wants to go away once morest promoted Austria Lustenau in the fight for a top 6 place. At the end of the game (5:00 p.m.) SK Rapid welcomes SCR Altach to the Allianz Stadium.
The leader Salzburg with 42 points in the table is clearly ahead of the fourth-placed WSG Tirol with 27 points. But Wattens has had five wins in the past six rounds and, with 16 points, leads the second half of the table together with Salzburg. “That makes us proud, but it’s not a declaration of war,” emphasized coach Thomas Silberberger. “For us, the game is a bonus game.”
The WSG has lost eight of nine league duels with Salzburg so far. In the four home games in Innsbruck, the outsider always managed at least one goal, in April 2021 even a 3-2 surprise win. “The requirements are relatively clear, the role of favorites is relatively clear,” said Silberberger. “But it’s a cool duel. We’ll throw in everything we’ve got.” With the exception of midfielder Valentino Müller, who is in question following suffering from a gastrointestinal illness, he has plenty to draw from. The Salzburgers are also not lacking any key core staff. Four days before the second leg in Rome, however, they will not be playing with the same staff as in Thursday’s 1-0 home win once morest Roma. “I am convinced that Red Bull will rotate,” said Silberberger.
After his successful debut at Wiener Austria, coach Michael Wimmer wants to add to the championship group in the next final game. The “Veilchen” are guests at Austria Lustenau, a direct competitor in the fight for a top 6 place. “We won the first game, but we know that we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” said Wimmer before his second competitive game in purple.
The starting situation is clear five laps before the points are shared: Wiener Austria is sixth once more following beating Austria Klagenfurt 3-1, Austria from Lustenau is five points behind. “If we still want to have a say, we have to beat Austria Vienna,” said Lustenau coach Markus Mader. At the start of spring, Vorarlberg didn’t stand a chance when they lost 4-0 in Salzburg. But: “We have a plan and an idea to get more out of the game than we did last time in Salzburg,” emphasized the coach. Wimmer, on the other hand, travels to the Ländle with plenty of injury worries. Another top performer in the purple squad, Dominik Fitz, is out for several weeks due to a torn abdominal muscle fibre.
For Rapid Vienna, the first home game in 2023 once morest SCR Altach is also regarding important points for reaching the championship play-off. “It’s a very, very important game for us,” said Rapid coach Zoran Barisic. Both Rapid and Altach started spring last week with 0-1 defeats. The Barisic squad lost out in Graz, the team coached by Miroslav Klose had to admit defeat to LASK at home. The Viennese want to write fully this time and go into the duel as favorites. This is exactly what Barisic warns regarding: “We won’t underestimate Altach, but I know that everyone else underestimates them. We’ll have to roll up our sleeves and fight because we won’t win the battle with just playful solutions.”
For Altach, the grapes hung high in Hütteldorf recently, the last three Alex Reed appearances at Rapid resulted in defeats. The first duel of the season also went 1-0 to the green-whites from Vienna. In addition, the team from the Ländle has not won in the league for four rounds. Nevertheless, Klose and his eleven are going to the federal capital with optimism. “We hope it will be a close game and that we can stand up to it,” said the German.
