2024-03-29 22:26:39
“The boys did well – unfortunately only well. So there was no chance of winning today,” Austria captain Manfred Fischer summed it up quite well on the “Sky” microphone following the goalless draw once morest FC Blau-Weiß Linz (match report > >>).
In the end, it’s okay that the Friday evening game in the 24th round of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga didn’t produce a winner. The Linzers fired 14 shots, but only three of them were on goal. The home team even put guest keeper Nicolas Schmid in trouble with just one shot on goal.
Fischer: “We wanted to win the game for ‘Welsi’”
The game took its decisive toll early on with Moritz Wels being sent off following 16 minutes. The 19-year-old, who received his second yellow card three minutes following the first, certainly imagined his starting eleven debut differently.
“I would have liked him to play longer,” said Austria coach Michael Wimmer, for whom the second yellow was tough but justifiable. Basically, the expulsion “completely messed up” the game and the match plan, said Wimmer. But the German didn’t want to blame the unlucky guy. “It’s an experiential process that he has to do and learn from.”
“We really wanted to win the game for ‘Welsi’,” agreed captain Fischer. In the final phase, Austria, supported by the home fans, put the pressure on once more. However, Linz had the best chance of scoring the winning goal in stoppage time. Paul Mensah finished from a promising position, but ended up missing quite clearly.
“The bottom line is that I can live with that point,” said Fischer. “Of course we would have liked to win the game. We did more for the game. But in the end you have to be happy with the point,” coach Wimmer found similar words. “You take one point when you’re outnumbered at home,” agreed Frans Krätzig.
The people of Linz lack experience
The other side might even be able to live a little better with one meter. Even if Blue-White has been waiting for a win for ten league games – the Upper Austrians went into the game as underdogs once morest the “Veilchen”, who last suffered a competitive defeat in August 2023 (3:5 once morest Legia Warsaw). Audience cashed in.
“For me it’s a point won,” said BW offensive player Conor Noß into the “Sky” microphone following the game.
“If you don’t do anything up front, you have to be happy with a 0-0 draw,” said Linz head coach Gerald Scheiblehner. “We’ve now played twice without conceding a goal. That’s important, especially at this stage of the championship. We can be very happy with that.”
The truth is, however, that the Upper Austrians are starting their journey home with more opportunities in their luggage. What’s currently wrong in front of the goal?
“You can see that the players don’t have enough rest, that they are impatient. We don’t have a single striker with Bundesliga experience. You can see that in certain situations. I still think that we played a very courageous game. We were today For the first time in a 4-3-3 formation, we prepared ourselves very well for the opponent,” explained Scheiblehner.
There are still problems in the last third. However, several teams in the qualifying group are struggling with this issue, says Scheiblehner. “I’m very happy with the performance today. I can rely on my team, they are intelligent and ambitious.”
Take out the pressure
Finally, Austria coach Wimmer found words that probably also apply to blue and white. “Of course we want to win, but that’s what the others want too. We’ll work, work, work and hopefully achieve our goal at the end of the day.”
When it comes to reaching the goal – first place in the qualifying group – we don’t want to put any pressure on ourselves. “Always putting pressure on us doesn’t help. The boys should enjoy the game. The spectators were there, they supported us fantastically. We kept going until the end. There are other things that trigger more pressure than a football game.”
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