2024-10-02 13:10:59
For LASK, the European Cup season opens on Thursday (9 p.m./live ServusTV) with its first appearance in the Conference League. The Linzers, who are lagging behind in the Bundesliga, host Sweden’s current second-placed Djurgardens IF and want to continue their upward national trend under Markus Schopp. He has planned a lot. “Such games are there to be played, enjoyed, but also won,” said the LASK coach.
Five days after the hard-fought 1-1 draw at Rapid, Schopp is aiming for his third win in the fifth game with his new club. After the completely messed up start to the season under Thomas Darazs, the athletes are obviously on the up and would be only too happy to confirm their increase in form internationally. The joy is dampened by the boycott of the organized fan scene in the stadium. The supporters announced that they wanted to support the team from the stadium forecourt.
The gradient shown last will be needed in order to be able to stand up to the guests from Stockholm – even though the favorite status lies with the home team. Schopp expects a “very intense, very flexible opponent.” He saw the Conference League as a “reward” for the past season, but primarily as an opportunity for his team.
“It’s a huge opportunity to make an international statement, regardless of the opponent,” emphasized Schopp before his second European Cup game as coach. In the first, he lost with TSV Hartberg in the 2020 Europa League qualification against Piast Gliwice in Poland.
Captain Robert Zulj recorded the assist. “We are on a really good path. We have to keep going and make the next statement,” noted the playmaker and enforcer. Zulj also spoke of a “really good opponent”.
Djurgarden can be described as the flagship team of the Swedish league. The twelve-time champion was last at the top in 2019 and has always ended up in the top four after that. Currently only Malmö ranks ahead of the multi-sport club. The best-known name in the squad is Albin Ekdal. Even though the 77-time former Swedish team player, who worked for Juventus and HSV among others, hardly played a role in the current season. The fourth place in the last championship worked its way into the Conference League via Progres Niederkorn (LUX), Austria-Wien conqueror Ilves Tampere and NK Maribor.
The Linzers are on the rise after the coaching change, said Thomas Lagerlöf, who has been in charge of the first team together with Kim Bergstrand since 2019. “The team has grown more and more together over time, so there is a clear upward trend,” said Lagerlöf. The LASK squad is “generally of high quality”, but his team is “ready for the task”. Central defender Marcus Danielson, who has to attend a court hearing in the legal dispute with his former agency, is not there. The club gave him time off for this.
For LASK it is the twelfth European Cup meeting with a Swedish club. The last one so far dates back to June 1996, when the athletes scored a 2-0 win against Djurgarden in the Intertoto Cup. Back then, around 600 spectators attended the game in Wels, but there will be a few more this time. 9,000 tickets had been sold by midday on Wednesday.
The anticipation was dampened by the announced boycott of the stadium by the hard core of fans, who were protesting against the high ticket prices. Schopp described this as “extremely bitter”. Everyone in Linz was looking forward to the European Cup. “In the end it is our responsibility to play a good game and create euphoria,” he said. It is important for the club to find a solution.
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