Battle for the Championship Title

LIVE: Cup winner LASK faces Rapid

LASK turns the game around against Rapid!(Bild: GEPA)

Matchday 30 in the Bundesliga: LASK faces Rapid. Who will secure three crucial points in the battle for the championship? We’re reporting live (live ticker below). The score is currently 3-1. 

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Buoyed by the euphoria of their first title in 61 years, LASK kicks off the final stretch of the Bundesliga today. Three days after their Cup triumph in Klagenfurt, the Linz side hosts SK Rapid for the delayed showdown of the round. In front of their home crowd, the Black-and-Whites aim to take the first of three steps toward repeating the historic double of 1965. But the visitors, trailing by three points, are still on their own mission 33.

  “The Cup title must give us strength. We’ll do everything we can to achieve something this season,” said LASK coach Dietmar Kühbauer. Rapid, Salzburg, and Austria are the final opponents; the focus is now solely on the Green-Whites. “It’s an old saying of mine, but it doesn’t change anything. We take it one game at a time, and it’s good that we keep it that way because everything is so tight.”

A good omen for Kühbauer
Kühbauer described the scheduling as “absolutely terrible.” The former WAC coach felt as though he had been transported back a year. Back then, the Wolfsberger match against Rapid was also scheduled three days after the cup victory. A good omen: Back then, WAC won in Vienna. Another factor in LASK’s favor: In terms of physical conditioning and squad depth, the Upper Austrians seem to be in above-average shape. In any case, the cup celebration was kept on the down-low. While the fans were still celebrating long into the night at the home arena, the players deliberately kept a low profile. “We couldn’t go all out. The season isn’t over yet,” Kühbauer emphasized.

(Bild: Kronen Zeitung)

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  Rapid, too, can still hope for the 33rd championship title in the club’s history. The victory against their new favorite opponent, Salzburg, sparked new hope in Hütteldorf. To stay in the title race, however, the Green-Whites must end a losing streak in their first Monday match in Bundesliga history: Rapid has been waiting for a win at LASK for nine away games. That’s why Rapid coach Johannes Hoff Thorup called it the “toughest challenge.”

Rapid fondly remembers its 4-2 victory
The Linz team has a clear identity and many strengths. But that’s no reason to shy away from them. “The most important thing at this stage of the season is to make it clear to the players that we can beat any opponent,” emphasized the 37-year-old. His team proved that in Hütteldorf, where Rapid secured a 4-2 victory in the second match of the championship group on March 22. According to Hoff Thorup, that win came in “one of our best games.” At the time, the Linz team had previously won their Cup semifinal against Ried 2-1 in extra time earlier in the week.

Now the Linz team has had to put in extra work in the Cup again in the run-up to the match. “The win will probably give them a boost and extra energy, but hopefully they’ll be a bit more tired toward the end of the game,” said the Dane. And captain Matthias Seidl added: “It could be a small advantage for us; hopefully we can capitalize on that again.” The team wants to “repeat that ‘great game’ from back then and take three points home.” Suspended defensive leader Nenad Cvetkovic won’t be able to help. However, another defender, Jannes Horn, has declared himself fit in time after recovering from illness.