A Magical Champions League Evening

Kühbauer grins: “He can have it in hindsight”

LASK coach Dietmar Kühbauer still had reason to be happy after the match.(Bild: EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO)

Lisbon was once again worth the trip for LASK. After two disappointing starts to the Champions League, the Linz-based team broke the spell on Wednesday with a 3-2 victory at Sporting Lisbon, scoring for the first time in the club’s history in Europe’s premier club competition. Not even controversial calls could wipe the grin off coach Dietmar Kühbauer’s face. 

A 0-1 loss at AEK Athens, a 3-6 defeat at home against Liverpool—expectations for LASK heading into their match against Portugal’s runner-up had been rather modest. But the match turned into a well-rounded performance by the visitors, who remained unfazed even by a rough start, questionable calls by the referees, and the loss of goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth early in the second half (52nd minute). As a reward, LASK left the José Alvalade Stadium as the winner, just as they had in their 4–1 victory in the Europa League qualifier in October 2020.

“The reaction was great,” said Sasa Kalajdzic, one of the three Linz goal scorers, reflecting on the fifth-minute penalty kick that Luis Suarez had converted to give the hosts the lead. The fact that Nestory Irankunda had fouled Robert Ljubicic moments earlier and the VAR still didn’t intervene remained incomprehensible to many. “The referee wasn’t really on his game today—that wasn’t a penalty,” Kalajdzic clarified.

Kühbauer Praises Strong Pressing
From Coach Dietmar Kühbauer’s perspective as well, the penalty kick was “very harsh,” as the Burgenland native noted. Though he’s usually quick to get upset with the referees, he took a conciliatory tone in light of the victory. “Never mind! In hindsight, let him have it.” He was, however, deeply impressed by how his team handled the setback. “When you consider that Sporting hadn’t lost a single game up to that point (3–1 against Galatasaray and 2–0 at RC Lens, ed.), I have to give the team incredible credit.”

The first Champions League points for an Austrian team since Sturm Graz’s 1–0 win over RB Leipzig on January 29, 2025, were ultimately thanks to goals by Christoph Lang (15th min.), Kalajdzic (63rd minute), and Krystof Danek (68th minute), but structurally speaking, they were due to the aggressive and well-coordinated defensive work. While the team had been overwhelmed by this approach against Liverpool a week earlier, this time they successfully put pressure on the home side for long stretches of the game. As a result, the Portuguese were rarely able to exploit their strengths with the ball, and good scoring chances for the Green-Whites were few and far between.

For Kühbauer, that was also “the difference. Against Liverpool, we were too deep in the zones. When we press higher up the field, they have problems. It requires a lot of running, but they didn’t want to leave the field here as losers,” said the 55-year-old. All three goals stemmed from the visitors winning the ball; Lang was the first to capitalize on this. “A dream come true,” said the Austrian national team striker about his first goal in the Champions League.

Kalajdzic: “Fought with everything we had”
He and his teammates also had to recover from a minor shock at the start of the second half. Jungwirth left the field after a collision with Suarez just outside the penalty area—a precautionary measure due to a possible head injury. “Of course, it was a scary moment for us,” Kühbauer said. “He wanted to get back in the game, but the doctor’s decision was the right one.” Kalajdzic would have liked to see Suarez receive a yellow card in that situation. His conclusion: “Every little foul against us was called, but sometimes nothing is called in our favor. That’s why I’m so proud of the team—because we fought back against everything.”

Sasa Kalajdzic(Bild: AFP/FILIPE AMORIM)

After he and Danek had turned the game around, Sporting still struggled to find a way through but managed to pull one back through Suarez in the dying moments (89th minute). The VAR’s decision was also open to criticism here, as a prior foul on Alessandro Schöpf was not taken into account. Ultimately, LASK weathered the eight minutes of stoppage time and took the well-deserved points home with them.

Even Sporting defender Maxi Araujo had no reason to dispute the result. “They built a very solid defensive block; they deserved to win,” explained the Uruguayan World Cup veteran. “We lost possession three times and conceded three goals,” groaned his coach, Rui Borges. After three rounds, LASK is now in 24th place, even within striking distance of the playoff spots. For now, however, the focus is on Sunday’s Bundesliga showdown at home against Salzburg; on November 3, they can hope to add to their Champions League points tally in a home game against Slovan Bratislava.