21st matchday in the domestic Bundesliga: Blau-Weiß Linz meets Austria Vienna. We report live, see ticker below. It’s currently 1:2.
Here is the live ticker: Wiener Austria’s hopes of reaching the championship group in the Bundesliga are now slim. After the recent defeat in the derby against Rapid, the “Veilchen” are dependent on victories in the final two games of the regular season, and at the same time not only one competitor has to make a mistake. If the eighth-placed Viennese team don’t leave the field as winners today at Blau-Weiß Linz, they will be in the top half of the table. “As long as it is mathematically possible to reach the top six, we will do everything we can to achieve that,” said coach Michael Wimmer . Wins against Blau-Weiß and finally at home against WSG Tirol “should be our goal anyway”. At the same time, we know that the jump into the European Cup is also possible via the play-off from the qualifying group, explained Wimmer. Austria wants to have worked through the 0:3 in the derby, including many tactical errors in the first half. In Linz, the team should “show a different face,” noted Wimmer. He has to rethink his personnel again. In defense, Marvin Martins will be out for three weeks after tearing a fiber in his adductor area, and Reinhold Ranftl is suspended. Goalkeeper Christian Früchtl as well as Johannes Handl and Romeo Vucic, who were suspended against Rapid, are returning. Newly promoted Blau-Weiß have scored in eight of the first ten home games in the league (two wins, six draws, two defeats). Austria expects a compact opponent, Wimmer announced a courageous and offensive appearance. At the same time, the Violets have to hope that Salzburg and Sturm can do their best in their home games against Klagenfurt and the WAC. On paper it seems less likely that Rapid (at home against Lustenau) and Hartberg (at WSG Tirol) will lose points. “We would like to return the favor.” Blau-Weiß lost the first duel of the season in Vienna 0-4, Andreas Gruber scored three Austria goals. For Linz coach Gerald Scheiblehner, it was one of his team’s worse performances of the season. “We would like to return the favor.” He highlighted the home advantage as a big plus point for Blue and White. “Many teams have already felt our home strength this season, and Austria will feel the same way,” said Scheiblehner. The former Austria professional expects the Viennese (a competitive game) “with anger in his stomach. The fact that Austria has to win is not an advantage for us. We only look at ourselves anyway.” With the exception of Stefan Haudum, everyone at Blau-Weiß is on board. With a win, Linz would have cemented ninth place in the regular round.
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