Have they learned their lesson in the Champions League?

LASK is frustrated: “We didn’t play badly, but…”

LASK didn’t put in a bad performance in its Champions League debut, though it did squander a good chance.(Bild: GEPA)

LASK learned a hard lesson in its Champions League debut. Tuesday’s 0-1 loss to AEK Athens, played before an impressively loud crowd, was a credit to the team, but it wasn’t enough against a more composed Greek champion. “The guys didn’t do too badly, but at this level, you have to do even better,” concluded coach Dietmar Kühbauer. “In many situations, we’re just still green.”

For 20 strong opening minutes in Nea Filadelfia, it seemed as though LASK could do anything. But then came Razvan Marin’s magnificent free-kick goal—and the foul that led to it, just outside the penalty area, was rather unnecessary to begin with. “Before that, we showed what we’re capable of, but then we conceded the goal and our play fell apart a bit,” captain Sascha Horvath had to admit. The Linz team lost their grip on the game but at least held firm at the back. The defense, anchored by Andres Andrade, Joao Tornich, and Xavier Mbuyamba, performed flawlessly. “AEK didn’t really create much from open play. It looked promising,” said Kühbauer, “but they actually capitalized on our mistakes.”

A deafening chorus of boos gave “Kraft”
And so the underdog had it in their hands until the very last minute to snag at least one point. After the break, LASK played with determination, albeit ineffectively, and now enjoyed more possession. The roughly 30,000 AEK fans, who provided deafening support for 90 minutes, sensed this danger. A deafening chorus of boos accompanied every offensive move by the visitors. But goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth emphasized that it didn’t have an intimidating effect—quite the opposite. “It really gave us strength when the whole stadium booed us,” said the 22-year-old.

Lukas Jungwirth(Bild: AFP/ANGELOS TZORTZINIS)

The fact that the LASK comeback by Austrian national team striker Sasa Kaljdzic—who came on as a substitute in the 74th minute—almost paid off in the closing minutes would have been almost too good to be true, given his last-minute goal against Algeria at the World Cup. “A little too much respect” for the opponent was what the Viennese player identified; he doesn’t want to “go overboard” after his first competitive match since the World Cup finals. It was clear to him, too, that the level of play is “different from that in the Austrian league.” Horvath echoed this sentiment, pointing out the different physical and mental demands of the Champions League. “We have to have more confidence in ourselves, especially with the ball,” said the veteran.

“AEK would have run out of steam”
“If we’d played that final ball better, we definitely could have gotten more out of the game,” said Kühbauer, who didn’t have a single player in his lineup that day who was able to rise to the occasion. The Burgenland native would certainly have liked to play a little longer than 93 minutes. “I’m sure AEK would have run out of steam,” he hypothesized. But that’s how the Champions League debut played out, and AEK rewarded itself on its return to the Champions League after eight years with its first victory in the competition at the stadium built in 2022.

Given the Reds’ caliber, it seems unlikely—though not impossible—that LASK will achieve something similar in their next Champions League match at home against Liverpool on October 14. “We need to learn quickly,” demanded Kühbauer, whose team will next face, in this order, Sporting Lisbon (a), Slovan Bratislava (h), Bodø/Glimt (a), Fenerbahçe Istanbul (h), Real Madrid (a), and FC Porto (h). For now, however, the focus must be on the Bundesliga. Ahead on Sunday is the big match against runner-up Sturm Graz—and thus the first real domestic challenge of the season. Kühbauer therefore didn’t want to think about Liverpool just yet. “That’s much more important right now.”