Sturm learned his lessons

“Now we have to push our limits!”

Sturm have taken another step forward despite being knocked out of the Conference League in Lille. The full focus is now on the championship round, which begins on Sunday in Klagenfurt. There, everything will be done to secure a "Tuesday date".

"We said goodbye to Europe with our heads held high!" President Christian Jauk was not dissatisfied after the 1:1 in Lille on the flight home, "the team showed what it's made of - and a European Cup round of 16 doesn't happen that often!"

Head of Sport Andreas Schicker was delighted that the second leg showed that the Blackies' pressing can also work at a higher level: "This one point raises our club coefficient from 13.5 to 14.5 points. We are now number 100 in the rankings and have overtaken Rapid. Only Salzburg and LASK are ahead of us. But we will certainly work our way up over the next few years." Downer: "Even with a win, we wouldn't have been able to save the Nations Cup." Bitter: From 2025/26, Austria's champions will no longer have a fixed place in the Champions League; all Austro teams will have to start one round earlier in all competitions.

After 30 European Cup games in three years, coach Christian Ilzer gave a brief summary: "Unfortunately, we didn't make it big in Europe, but we showed that we can compete with teams like this. Unfortunately, we were too impressed by Lille in Graz - but we responded well in France." After all: "We were challenged a lot internationally, we were shown our limits, which is not often the case nationally. Now it's time to expand these boundaries! That's what we're taking away as added value from our trip to Europe."

The triple burden is gone - now the full focus is on the championship round. It starts on Sunday in Klagenfurt, where Dimitri Lavalee is suspended. But defensive boss Gregory Wüthrich is fit: "My shoulder hurts a bit, but it hasn't popped out. I should be fine."

The fact that Sturm showed their true colors again in Lille gives Jusuf Gazibegovic a boost for the championship round: "We want to keep up with Salzburg for as long as possible, and if we can kick them away at the end, we'll try to do that. In any case, we will go all out so that we can perhaps always play on Tuesday next season (Champions League date)."