Including cabin party

Rapids euphoria is back: “We believe in it!”

Guido Burgstaller celebrates the win in Leoben.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Rapids' dressing room party was a foretaste of the Cup final on May 1. Coach Robert Klauß has provided stability - and new hope for the green-white team. "It's time. We believe in it!", said sports boss Markus Katzer after the promotion in Leoben.

"SK Rapid is our drug - and we're going to win the cup!" chanted the fans from the catacombs at "Monte Schlacke". Rapid's players escalated at the dressing room party in Leoben, loudly celebrating their entry into the cup final. Coach Robert Klauß was right in the middle of it all: "I'm completely soaked, I had to change my kit," grinned the German after the 3:0 win. "Now we have a nice April, we want to enjoy it. With a good feeling in the back of our minds, the prospect of the final."

"It's about time. We believe in it!"
This will take place on May 1st in Klagenfurt. Hundreds of ticket requests were received in Hütteldorf on Thursday night. Many fans had already booked their accommodation around Lake Wörthersee in advance and can now cancel their reservations. "I've been there for 14 months now, for the second time in the final," grinned sporting director Katzer. "We're certainly not going to Klagenfurt not to win the cup. It's time. We believe in it!"

The bad memories (three final defeats since 2017) are faded - midfield turbo Seidl: "I wasn't there, we're in the final to win it."

Markus Katzer(Bild: GEPA)

Big goal
Emotions in Hütteldorf always oscillate between extremes: Change of coach, derby triumph including scandal, penalties and what felt like the end of the world, top 6 battle of nerves, now euphoria again - things traditionally move quickly at Rapid. But on the pitch, the team has become stable under Klauß: twelve games, only one defeat (0:1 against Salzburg), never conceded more than one goal, recently played three times to nil. "We're now managing to get through difficult phases as a team," says goalkeeper Hedl. Whose still short (286 minutes) goal barrage in Leoben only came into danger twice. "We were too passive after the break," Klauß also recognized. "But I never had the feeling that anything was going to happen." Katzer took a similar view: "There's no beauty prize in the cup."

But a cup - which Rapid hasn't won since 1995! However, Klauß only wants to think about the league now, with Salzburg coming up on Sunday: "We have to get ourselves in good shape, in a good starting position." For what? Right, to be able to play freely on May 1st