Storm is on fire:

And now “all in” for the “premier league”

Tomi Horvat celebrated his best day at Sturm(Bild: Marlene Borkenstein)

Sturm celebrated their seventh cup victory very discreetly. The new goal is the championship title and Champions League. The players dream of an 18-million-euro coup.

And now the double! While the roar from the speakers was loud in the dressing room after the 2:1 win against Rapid at the Wörthersee Stadium, the Sturm players' next goals were already set in stone: "Going straight to the Champions League as champions is every player's dream," said match-winner Tomi Horvat, dreaming of the €18 million coup, "winning the cup was nice, but now we're going for that goal!" His golden goal in the final made the Slovenian European Championship aspirant proud: "There's nothing more special than a goal for the title. That was my best day at Sturm!"

Gregory Wüthrich was proud of the team's character, which turned the tide after a vociferous dressing room speech from him and Kiteishvili and defeated Rapid for the third time in twelve days: "We knew we were better than Rapid!"

As another win was needed against Hartberg on Sunday, celebrations were taboo: "That's fine, because if we win the double, we'll have a party three times as big! And our fans are crazy, the atmosphere was incredible - we train all year for that."

The double would be incredibly satisfying for the Swiss defender after his transfer to Augsburg fell through due to a negative fitness test: "Everything in life happens for a reason! And hard work is often rewarded." The Champions League would be a jackpot for the young dad, who couldn't resist a dig at Germany: "I enjoy proving people wrong again and again. I've played almost everything and will play 40 games again this year. Hopefully the championship will come next!"

Christian Ilzer was celebrated by his winners.(Bild: Marlene Borkenstein)

"Now we're going all in," said David Affengruber, "because we have it in our own hands to achieve something historic for Schwarz-Weiß. To do that, we have to beat Hartberg now!" The Champions League could influence his career plans (his contract is coming to an end), even if he doesn't want to comment on this: "But the fans appreciate how hard I work for this club."

"This team is really alive," says Christian Ilzer confidently for the season finale against Hartberg, LASK and Klagenfurt, "these are real winners!"