Bundesliga in the ticker

Red Bull Salzburg v Sturm Graz – 5pm LIVE

Title showdown in the Bundesliga!(Bild: GEPA pictures)

29th round of the Bundesliga: Red Bull Salzburg welcome leaders Sturm Graz for the title showdown. We report live, see ticker below. 

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Ahead of perhaps the most important match in thirteen years, Sturm Graz sense a big opportunity. For months now, the Blacks have been chipping away at the throne of serial champions Salzburg, and on Sunday (5.30pm) they will be looking to shake the cracked armchair even more on the road. "It's going to be a cracker," said Sturm player Jusuf Gazibegovic. Salzburg are taking on the unusual role of runners-up. "We will hunt them down," promised defender Flavius Daniliuc.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Just a month ago, Austria presented a completely different picture. After a thoroughly deserved 1:0 win at Sturm in the second round of the Champions Group, Salzburg were five points ahead of their rivals at the top of the table and - as always at this stage of the season - seemed to be pulling away from the rest. However, the subsequent 4:3 home defeat to Sturm in the cup semi-final heralded a turning point. Only one of four games was won, with bitter defeats against LASK (1:3) and now Klagenfurt (3:4). Sturm, on the other hand, won all four of their games and come to Wals-Siezenheim with a three-point advantage.

Even a draw would therefore help the Styrians on their way to their first league title since 2011, their fourth overall. But playing for a draw is not an option for the visitors. "Never. If you play passively against the ball, you won't get any speed of action with the ball either. It's not our approach to grind out a point in Salzburg," coach Christian Ilzer made clear. "It will depend on a lot of little things. You have to have good nerves, you need momentum and good leaders with a lot of conviction in their own qualities."

Onur Cinel at his presentation as Salzburg coach(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

Even though Salzburg are currently facing a lot of criticism, the challenge on Sunday is the toughest imaginable. "Their season is not bad, but ours is really outstanding," said Ilzer, who described the away fixture as the "most difficult game possible". "But we know that we can also win these games," said the 46-year-old, who can call on the entire squad with the exception of the long-term injured Manprit Sarkaria, Kjell Scherpen and Alexandar Borkovic.

His team is currently so solid that the seemingly impossible is now within reach. "In the beginning, I didn't always look into convinced eyes when it came to conveying the belief that we could beat Salzburg in even one game," Ilzer recalled. "We managed to implement this idea and really, really challenge Salzburg over the course of a season."

"Salzburg knows it has to win"
Gazibegovic also cited new-found mental strength. "We thought about it a few times too often last year, maybe that was the mistake of going into the game with more pressure. We're just playing our game this year, we know what we can do," explained the full-back, who Salzburg transferred to Graz in 2020 after seven years in the youth ranks. The question is whether the pressure is on Sturm or Salzburg. "Salzburg know that they actually have to win this game," said Gazibegovic, who admittedly did not want to hide his own ambitions. "We want, you can say it now, to become champions at all costs."

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

In Salzburg, such announcements are probably met with mixed feelings. The fact that the "upstart" is now claiming the Bulls' self-image as his own is certainly a nod in the right direction. "The roles are now reversed," Daniliuc stated soberly and tried to increase the pressure on his rivals. "Sturm has a lot of pressure too. Now we are the hunters and we will hunt them down."

Mind games
However, mind games alone will not be enough for the league leaders. "We have something to make up for," confirmed coach Onur Cinel, who took over from the sacked Gerhard Struber two games ago. The German's debut was quite successful in the 4:2 home win over Klagenfurt, but the team suffered a disastrous 3:4 away defeat in the "second leg" on Wednesday - despite leading 2:0 at the break. "The only explanation" for Daniliuc was "a matter of mentality. We brought the playfulness with us. But that's exactly what we'll do differently on Sunday," said the 22-year-old.

Coach Christian Ilzer(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

It was precisely this mental aspect that Cinel worked on in the few days before the match. "That involves a lot of individual and team discussions. It's a short time, with the advantage that you can immediately show that you can do better," reported the assistant to ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick. His clear demand to the team: "It must be clear that we want to win - in every duel, in every aerial duel, in our conviction with every pass and every shot." Cinel was aware of the threat posed by Sturm. "They are an extremely intense team, with a high level of willingness in all phases of the game, and they do that very consistently."

"Too many goals conceded"
It was the lapses in the actually very stable defense that cost valuable points recently. "We've conceded too many goals in the last few games. But that's not just a defensive issue. The game itself wasn't good. It was mainly about attacking against the ball, but also the phases in which we had to switch in both directions," said Cinel. Due to the unnecessary fifth yellow card for Strahinja Pavlovic, he is missing a regular player who can also lead the way against Graz.

"That's particularly annoying for him because he's an absolute team player," said the coach, whose options in the defensive center include Samson Baidoo, Hendry Blank or Daniliuc, who was recently deployed at full-back. "It's almost a luxury situation," said Cinel, who is missing Andreas Ulmer, Nicolas Capaldo, Fernando and Maurits Kjaergaard. At least he can hope for the return of midfield engine Mads Bidstrup, who has been missing recently due to a shoulder injury. "I'm cautiously optimistic."