SK Rapid welcomes SCR Altach to the Allianz Stadium on Sunday (5:00 p.m./live Sky) at the end of the 18th round of the Bundesliga. For the Hütteldorfer, the first home game in 2023 is about important points for reaching the master play-offs. “It’s a very, very important game for us,” said Rapid coach Zoran Barisic on Friday. The Vorarlbergers have completely different worries: Altach is only two points away from bottom-placed Ried.
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 about: “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.”
The personnel situation in fifth place is tense. It is currently unclear how long the strong Nicolas Kühn will be out. “Kühn is out of the team training process. He is currently working with the physios and individual trainers to stabilize his body. It is not yet clear when he will be available again,” said Barisic.
In addition to other injuries such as Thorsten Schick, Ferdy Druijf, Martin Koscelnik and Maximilian Hofmann, Marco Grüll is also absent due to a yellow card suspension, while Jonas Auer is healthy again. Ante Bajic on the left and Oliver Strunz on the right could offensively occupy the flanks against Altach. After a difficult autumn, Bajic wants to show that he has arrived at Rapid. “We want to go into the game with conviction, Altach are unpleasant opponents. It doesn’t matter to me whether I score or who else, the main thing is that we get the three points.”
They are also necessary to keep the distance to the lower play-off. This is currently three points. Barisic, meanwhile, described the Klose team as a “lucky bag”. “They are very difficult to read, very courageous, especially with the ball, and there are phases in their game where they can make it difficult for any opponent,” said the 52-year-old, who hopes his team will be more efficient up front.
For Altach, the grapes hung high in Hütteldorf recently, the last three guest 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.
Of the numerous newcomers during the winter break, five were in the starting XI against LASK with Andreas Jungdal, Mike Bähre, Simon Nelson, Jurica Jurcec and LASK loanee Husein Balic. Klose rated the ongoing integration process positively. “Coordination, automatisms, it’s getting better and better. The quality from the flanks is there. Now we still need quality in the box, then a lot of things will be right.” In any case, the table tenth could use points very well in the relegation battle. “We know it won’t be easy under any circumstances, but we’re going there to take something with us,” explained defensive man Stefan Haudum.