A dubious squad

WAC and the dance on the razor’s edge

(Bild: EXPA/ Max Slovencik)

With a win at Austria Vienna, the WAC can take first place in the qualifying group for the first time. Once again, captain Mario Leitgeb is not in the squad. President Riegler did not agree at all with Manfred Schmid's statements regarding Leitgeb's expiring contract. . .

Will the leader of the qualifying round be WAC for the first time this season this Saturday at 6.50 pm? That will happen if Ballo & Co. win the thriller at Austria Vienna - and would put their ticket for the European Cup play-offs within their grasp.

(Bild: F. Pessentheiner)

But beware: the performance in the Generali-Arena, which is sure to be packed, will be a dance on a volcano:

• A win will be rewarded with first place;

• a draw would keep them in second place in any case, and the decision on whether they reach the European Cup play-offs would be made in the very last round on May 18;

• However, a defeat today could put Wolfsburg in a dilemma: First place would definitely be gone, even second place could already be history if "star carrier" Blau-Weiß Linz wins at Austria Lustenau!

Mario Leitgeb's (right) future is unclear.(Bild: GEPA pictures/ Oliver Lerch)

It's clear to everyone that Baumgartner & Co. don't have to take too much credit for last week's lucky 1-0 win at Altach (who have won just two of their last 22 games and are winless in seven home games! And yet the only second "three-pointer" was a kind of liberating blow, and the good Vienna record also gives hope. They have not conceded a goal in their last two games: on November 13, 2022, Ballo scored the late 1:0 (three weeks later, by the way, Schmid was history for the Violets!), this season there was a 0:0 on August 20, 2023.

Gütlbauer (left) will be between the posts on Saturday.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Questionable squad composition
Gütlbauer may try to extend Bonmann's "goal ban" today. "Bonnie" is once again not in the squad due to the foreigner regulations - because Karamoko, who has been a pipe-dream, actually remains in the squad - and captain Mario Leitgeb, who wants to continue his career, is once again missing despite a number of absentees (Kennedy and Scherzer are also shaky!). A more than questionable squad composition.

Riegler does not agree with Schmid's statement
Coach Schmid had recently handed Leitgeb the walking stick via TV ("His contract will not be extended!") - which President Riegler, noticeably "miffed" about Schmid's "solo", promptly revised hours later. "There will definitely be another meeting - nothing has been decided yet."