Autumn Showdown: The Austrian Football Gauntlet is Here!
Well, well, well, it’s that time of the year again, folks! The leaves are falling, and so are the defenses, as Austria’s football teams jump headfirst into a whirlwind of matches this fall. Picture this: seven games in just 21 days! That’s less time than it takes to recover from a Lee Evans stand-up show! For the double winners Sturm Graz, the runners-up Red Bull Salzburg, and others like LASK and Rapid, it’s all about survival in the autumn fog. Who’s got the stamina? Who’ll crack under pressure like a cheap supermarket wine?
Sturm Graz: The Champions League Conundrum
Let’s talk about Sturm Graz. They’ve got a calendar packed tighter than a maxi dress at a buffet! Starting with their first Graz Bundesliga derby in 17 years and continuing with dodgy opponents like Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League and Borussia Dortmund. Seriously, if they don’t get a few energy drinks in, they might as well be playing in slow motion. With coach Christian Ilzer leading the charge, they’re going to need all the luck of the Irish and a few magic tricks like Rowan Atkinson in ‘Mr. Bean’ to pull through this chaos. Oh wait—this isn’t a comedy sketch; it’s just the Bundesliga!
Salted Salzburg: Easy Street or Hard Road?
Then we have Red Bull Salzburg, who must be sipping on some seriously strong energy drinks to face relatively “pleasant” opponents in the Champions League—Dinamo Zagreb and Feyenoord Rotterdam. They are like that student who gets an easy homework assignment when everyone else is drowning in projects. Maybe they’ll have more luck, but they can’t ignore troublesome LASK lurking in the Bundesliga. And don’t get me started on the goalkeeper debacle! It’s like picking between two bad dates—does Janusz Blaswich get another chance, or do they let Alexander Schlager step back in? What’s it going to be, boys?
Blau Weiß Linz: Goalkeeper Drama
Speaking of drama, let’s have a chat about Blau Weiß Linz. It’s like ‘The Real World’ up in there! Picture this: Radek Vitek just back from a knee injury and Andreas Lukse now out with a shoulder injury—surgery and all! Suddenly, inexperienced Kevin Radulovic looks set for his Bundesliga debut against Wolfsberg. If that doesn’t get your heart racing faster than when you find out your internet is down, I don’t know what will! It’s a goalkeeper drama that could rival any soap opera out there!
What Lies Ahead: Predictions and Anticipations
So, as we ease into this football frenzy, the anticipation is palpable. Will Sturm Graz weather the storm and come out as champions, or will they fumble like they’re in a tragic comedy? Can Salzburg turn their fortunes around, or will they sink into their own energy drink stupor? And can LASK and Rapid hold their ground while the others flounder? With games piling up and tension rising, it’s going to be one wild ride—so, grab your popcorn, plug into the action, and let the games begin!
Photo Credits: Gepa/Admiral.
For double winners Sturm Graz, runners-up Red Bull Salzburg, LASK and Rapid, the toughest phase of the fall begins at the weekend: seven games in just 21 days until the next team break in November. In three different competitions: At Sturm and Salzburg there are two Champions Leagues each, four times in the Bundesliga and once in the round of 16 in the Cup, at LASK and Rapid it is “only” the Conference League instead of the Champions League. Master Sturm certainly has the most difficult program, which begins on Saturday with the first Graz Bundesliga derby in 17 years for coach Christian Ilzer and his players, in which GAK captain Marco Perchtold, who also played in the last one in 2007, is there.
Sturm continues on Tuesday in Klagenfurt against Portugal’s champions Sporting Lisbon, then comes the away game at LASK, the cup against Blau Weiß Linz, the top game of the league against Rapid in Graz, away Borussia Dortmund and finally the Styrian derby in Hartberg. Salzburg has “more pleasant opponents” both in the Champions League with Dinamo Zagreb and Feyenoord Rotterdam and in the Bundesliga, with the exception of LASK. Sporting Lisbon and Dortmund are so far unbeaten in the group stage of the premier class: Sporting beat Real Madrid conquerors Lille 1-0, drew 1-1 at Holland’s champions PSV Eindhoven, Dortmund won 3-0 at Club Bruges with Marcel Sabitzer and outclassed Celtic at home Glasgow 7:1. Ilzer certainly cannot count on defense chief Gregory Wüthrich and captain Jon Gorenc Stankovic until November; Salzburg could see the comeback of Danish midfielder Maurits Kjaergaard and left-back Aleksa Terzic, who were missing in the botched October, as early as Saturday against Altach. The Dane in particular could stabilize Salzburg again. The opponents in the Champions League are certainly a lot tougher than those in the Conference League. Rapid hosts Armenia’s runners-up FC Noah next Thursday and visits CS Petrocub in Moldova two weeks later. LASK has more “prominent” opponents in the form of the Slovenian top club Olimpija Laibach and Cercle Brügge.
Salzburg won 18 of the last 22 games against Altach, so the Vorarlbergers, where former Liefering coach Fabio Ingolitsch is making his debut, are the “right” opponent to get back on track. “We found a few things that weren’t right and that we want to take care of. I hope that you can see that on the pitch too,” claimed Salzburg’s criticized sports director Bernhard Seonbuchner. The goalie question remains open: Continue with the unconvincing Janusz Blaswich or Alexander Schlager’s comeback? Despite Schlager’s return to goal for the national team, coach Pep Lijnders is more likely to stay at Blaswich. Because he made him captain and the goalkeeper change would now give the impression that Lijnders had given in to the fans’ demands.
A goalkeeper problem has currently arisen at Blau Weiß Linz: The Czech Radek Vitek has only been training for a short time after his knee injury, his experienced replacement Andreas Lukse suffered a shoulder injury in training, underwent surgery and will be out for months. It could happen that 22-year-old Kevin Radulovic will have to make his Bundesliga debut against Wolfsberg on Saturday.
Photo: Gepa/Admiral.
