Yellow-red on debut

Austria captain Fischer: “We have his back”

Moritz Wels had to leave the pitch after a quarter of an hour

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Moritz Wels will not soon forget his debut in the Bundesliga starting eleven - but not for the reasons he had hoped. The 19-year-old Vienna Austria midfielder was sent off after a quarter of an hour in the match against Blau-Weiß Linz (0:0) on Good Friday evening. Captain Manfred Fischer and the team now have his back.

After two fouls within three minutes, referee Arnes Talic showed two yellows and therefore a red card. "Of course it's bitter, but we've got his back," said captain Manfred Fischer.

Austria coach Michael Wimmer also defended the youngster and did not blame Wels. "He was completely disappointed. He sat there at half-time like a poodle. He's a young player, he has to learn from it now," said the 43-year-old German. "It's important when a player makes his debut that the team helps him. After the exclusion, they helped him by fighting as a team and getting a point."

Soccer is a team sport
Fischer immediately sought a conversation with his colleague. "I said to him after the game that it might happen to him two or three more times in his career. It's just unfortunate on his starting debut. We ironed it out for him today. That's the way it is in team sport, if one player misses out, you have to make sure the others are there."

Manfred Fischer

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

It was the ninth sending off for the Viennese this season, making the "Veilchen" the sole Bundesliga leaders. However, Wimmer wanted to take a differentiated view. "The cards I can't live with at all are assaults or stupidities like complaining. That's not acceptable. The yellow-red card today was harsh. You can give the first yellow, but to show him a yellow-red card three minutes later is extremely harsh."

In principle, the Austria coach was pleased with his team's performance in the 75-minute game with a short-handed team, but he was still unhappy with the result. "It's a mixed feeling as to whether you're satisfied with the point. I think it's two too few. You could see from the players that they wanted more. Nevertheless, we finished 75 minutes against one man more than decent."

Goal drought for Linz
Linz coach Gerald Scheiblehner, on the other hand, had a thoroughly satisfied face as his team were able to score against the favorites for the first time after losing 4-0 and 2-1 in the basic round. "I've never scored a point against Austria in the Bundesliga, so this is a first for us. We're already happy about it." He did not want to mourn a missed potential victory. "If you don't score a goal, there's nothing more in it."

The 47-year-old also explained the fact that the streak of winless games has now been extended to ten matches with the blue and white team's problems in attack. In the last five games, the promoted team has only managed one goal. "We have strikers with little to no Bundesliga experience. We don't have a single striker who played in the Bundesliga last year. It's difficult to make the right decisions in the final third, to be precise. It just takes time. The goal will come, we just have to stay diligent," explained Scheiblehner, who gave his team a 4-3-3 system for the first time in Vienna. "The players did a great job with it, I'm very happy with their performance."