29th round in the Bundesliga: LASK welcomes SK Rapid Vienna. We report live, see ticker below. It is currently 3-0.
Here is the live ticker: For SK Rapid, there may be crucial days for the conclusion of the season. Three days before the ÖFB Cup final against Sturm Graz, the Viennese team must strive to keep the competition in check in the race for the European Cup places away from LASK. The Linzers are third before Sunday’s game (2:30 p.m.) and would keep this place even if they lost. With a win, the athletes would put themselves in an excellent starting position before the league finish. Four rounds before the end, LASK is five points each ahead of Rapid and Klagenfurter Austria and six ahead of TSV Hartberg. The Carinthians and the Styrians meet in a parallel game on Sunday. Rapid coach Robert Klauß said about the starting position: “We are in the challenger’s situation. We want to make up points, but also secure fourth place.” The Germans are currently plagued by personnel concerns. Klauß first wants to weigh up whether Guido Burgstaller, Lukas Grgic and Terrence Kongolo will be available against LASK. “The question marks remain question marks. We have to see how big the risk is,” he said. Leopold Querfeld has already completed parts of the team training, and Thorsten Schick and Furkan Dursun could also return to the squad. The most recent loss is defender Maximilian Hofmann due to a calf injury suffered in the 3-1 loss to Sturm Graz. Jonas Auer is missing on Sunday due to a yellow card suspension. Klauß and his team want to have put the last two defeats against Sturm behind them. “It’s good that the focus is now quickly turned to the next game.” An opponent awaits in Linz against whom Rapid has never been able to win in the last five meetings in the Bundesliga. The duels ended in a draw four times. Looking at the balance of the last eight games is also not very refreshing for Grünweiß. Since the acclaimed derby home win against Austria at the end of February, only one victory (3-0 in Hartberg) has been recorded. Even with a view to the cup final, Klauß is trying to bring freshness and energy back into his team. Marco Grüll only came into action after the break. Matthias Seidl would also benefit from a break, said the Rapid coach. However, the thin staffing level does not currently allow this. “We have to filter out the players who are fit and fresh. It is clear that we currently have fewer automatisms.” At LASK, the return of the playmaker is also not foreseeable. Robert Zulj “is closer to the team, but probably not there,” said Thomas Darazs on Friday. His team showed a strong performance in Hartberg even without the offensive man and were rewarded with the 2-1 winning goal in stoppage time. The goal, originally attributed to Philipp Ziereis, was ultimately ruled an own goal by Hartberg’s Ibane Bowat. Ziereis is missing against Rapid due to a suspension. “We are now playing against the third team in a short space of time with completely different characteristics. We’ve had five full training sessions since we started and everyone can calculate how much impact you have as a coaching team,” said Darazs about his work. The interim coach has no time for experiments. Darazs left it open whether his team would start with a back four like in Hartberg. A three-man defense is also “an option.” Goalkeeper Tobias Lawal expects an intense game against Rapid, “a duel at eye level. Everyone has to go to the limit.” Support from the stands would help the home team. It remains to be seen to what extent the supporters will maintain the boycott. Most recently there were discussions with the club’s management around managing director Siegmund Gruber. “Everyone should pull together, that helps a lot,” said Darazs.
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