Team travels to Athens

LASK Ahead of Champions League Debut: “The Key Is…”

LASK Coach Didi Kühbauer(Bild: GEPA)

“The key is for my guys to once again show that passion, give it their all, and be courageous.” That’s how LASK coach Didi Kühbauer sets the tone for the Champions League opener against AEK Athens ...

LASK’s Champions League adventure begins with a trip to Greece’s capital. On Tuesday (6:45 p.m./live on Sky), the Athletiker will face defending champions AEK Athens and are confident they can make an impact in this clash of underdogs in the group stage. “We’re not just competing in the Champions League to make up the numbers—we’re here to come away with something tangible,” emphasized forward Christoph Lang ahead of the Upper Austrians’ Champions League debut.

Christoph Lang(Bild: GEPA)

  After Sturm Graz, Rapid, Austria Vienna, and Red Bull/Austria Salzburg, LASK is the fifth Austrian club to reach the main phase of the Champions League—and they’re brimming with confidence. They’ve recorded 8 wins and just 1 loss (goal difference 33–4) in their 9 competitive matches this season. On Saturday, they got another morale boost with a 6–1 victory over third-division side Deutschlandsberg. Their only loss—a 0–3 defeat to Celtic Glasgow in the Champions League playoff—has been forgotten, at the very latest, following the 5–1 victory in extra time in the second leg, the “Miracle of Linz.”

“Be ready” in the cauldronof
 Coach Dietmar Kühbauer called for the same mindset that made that remarkable feat possible even before the team’s departure for Athens. “The key is for my guys to once again show that passion, give it their all, and be courageous,” explained the Burgenland native, who has suffered only three losses in 36 games since his return to LASK. In a matchup between two clubs considered underdogs to advance by the oddsmakers, his team must not let itself be intimidated by the atmosphere at the 32,000-seat stadium—which opened in 2022—and its famously fanatical fans. “Whether it’s a cauldron or not, we have to be ready.”

Didi Kühbauer(Bild: GEPA)

  For Lang, the match in Athens is “a dream come true,” as the 24-year-old explained. He is likely to start up front in place of Samuel Adeniran, who is out with a cheekbone fracture, while the recalled ÖFB national team striker Sasa Kalajdzic will probably start on the bench. The fact that the Linz team has Robert Ljubicic—a former AEK player who knows both the players and the coach—in their ranks shouldn’t be a disadvantage. “Of course we’ve spoken with Robert, but we as the coaching staff are prepared for the opponent. We know everything about them,” said Kühbauer. Lang’s insight from the preseason: “You can catch them off guard in transition and when they’re defending, and that will be our goal.”

AEK Strong at Home, LASK Recently Weak on the Road in Europe
AEK, of course, has also been in good formlately, returning to the top flight after an eight-year absence. They’ve been particularly unbeatable at home so far. Against Iraklis Thessaloniki, Levski Sofia, and Aris Thessaloniki, former Mattersburg player Barnabas Varga and his teammates scored 13 goals and didn’t concede a single one. Hungarian national team forward Varga scored twice last Saturday, and the 5–0 victory was exactly what coach Marko Nikolic wanted. “We played great soccer,” said the Serbian, though he remained cautious: “It’s still too early to say how close we are to the kind of soccer I want to see.”

LASK will have to keep an eye on him: AEK striker Barnabas Varga(Bild: Eberau)

Kühbauer sees the 14-time Greek champions as “a good and experienced team; they know where the goal is,” the 55-year-old stated. With his squad, he’s also battling against LASK’s recently poor away record in European competition. The club has gone 11 away games without a win, suffering 11 losses. Their last victory came on November 25, 2021, when they prevailed 1-0 at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Conference League group stage thanks to a goal by Sascha Horvath, who has since been promoted to captain.