Bundesliga
After years without much competition in the Bundesliga, St. Pölten is faced with an unusual situation: At the end of the season, there is a showdown in the fight for the championship title in the women’s Bundesliga. The series champion and table leader goes into the direct duel of the third to last round in the NV Arena on Saturday (3.30 p.m., live on ORF Sport +) with an advantage of two points over Sturm Graz.
Both teams are still unbeaten, in autumn there was a 1-1 draw in Graz. That was St. Pölten’s only goal so far. In contrast, there are 62 goals following 15 games. The Styrians hold with a goal difference of 46:10. Sturm was also the opponent who inflicted the last defeat in the league on St. Pölten. That was the case with the 1-0 on May 27, 2018. At that time, however, St. Pölten had long been a winner.
The Lower Austrians are aiming for their seventh title in a row this season, the Graz women have never been at the top. The motivation before the hit game is all the greater. “We played 1-1 in Graz in the autumn, and if we won in Lower Austria we would have been ahead. We just have to be courageous, anything is possible in a game,” Sturm coach Christian Lang has his sights set on big things.
The hostesses want to underpin their supremacy. In any case, they are pleased regarding the tougher resistance than in previous years. “It’s sensational how you have to watch out for your opponents more and more every year. I’m not just talking regarding storms. If you’re not careful, you can’t get the results anymore, that’s great,” said St. Pölten’s sports director Liese Brancao.
The organizers are also hoping for a new league viewer record thanks to one or the other sponsorship campaign. It has been 1,100 since November 7, 2021 – in the duel between SPG SCR Altach/FFC Vorderland and Wacker Innsbruck in the Cashpoint Arena. Double events with men’s teams, as they were recently in St. Pölten, do not count for the league. At least 250 supporters will also travel from Graz, and Sturm will bring them to St. Pölten and the stadium free of charge.