For Wiener Austria, the weeks of hit games continue on Thursday with the home game in the Football Conference League against Villarreal (6.45 p.m. / live ORF1, Sky). If the “violets” want to keep their chances of staying in the competition intact, they have to score points. “With the right course of play and luck, and if we take our chances, anything is possible. Then there’s still a chance of second place,” said Austria coach Manfred Schmid optimistically.
They gained courage and self-confidence in the 2-1 derby win against Rapid on Sunday. Both will be necessary, because last week’s 5-0 defeat in Valencia showed how high the grapes are against the Spaniards. “It’s clear that we have to change something. It won’t work like it did in Valencia,” said Schmid, complaining that the opponents had too much space. “We just have to be better at the back and we mustn’t attack them like that. If they then come at you at high speed, they are difficult to defend. Then they are not a yellow submarine, but a jet plane.”
Before the 4th round of ECL Group C, the Austria coach is still plagued by personnel worries. Captain Lukas Mühl (groin) and right-back Marvin Martins (knee) are questionable for the match in the Generali Arena, for which 11,000 tickets were sold out by Wednesday afternoon. Both missed the final training session. “Maximum 50 percent that they make it,” Schmid estimated their chances of use.
Left-back Matan Baltaxa and winger Ibrahima Dramé trained for this. The Israeli Baltaxa in particular, who gained match practice with the Young Violets on Friday, still has some catching up to do after his ankle injury. “He’s on the mend, but physically he can’t be that far,” said Schmid. So the left side remains a construction site. In Valencia, Dario Kreiker was overwhelmed by the lively Samuel Chukwueze.
Should Austria lose and Lech Posen win at Hapoel Be’er Sheva (9 p.m.), the Schmid team would need a miracle in the remaining two rounds to finish second in the group. Then the Poles would already have a six-point lead, the direct comparison in Poznań ended in a 1:4 defeat. Villarreal, on the other hand, can already secure group victory on Thursday and thus promotion to the round of 16. This scenario comes into effect if coach Unai Emery’s eleven win and Poznań lose points in Israel at the same time.
The Iberians have shown two faces so far this season: In the Spanish LaLiga, the Emery squad has not won in the last four rounds and is only in midfield after eight games. In the European Cup season, the team that has played in conference league games with a significantly different starting eleven is untouched. In five games, including qualifying, there were just as many victories for the crew of the “Yellow Submarine”.
A topic for the game in Vienna is the former Spanish international Alberto Moreno. The left-back could get match practice after a seven-month injury break (torn cruciate ligament). He wants to play and had “become nervous” during the warm-up against Austria last week. “It will be a completely different game to the one we saw at home against Austria. They will press, but we are able to win,” Moreno was sure.
In the European Cup, the Austrians have been waiting for a complete success for almost five years. The last win came on November 2, 2017 away against HNK Rijeka (4:1) in the Europa League. Since then, the Viennese have not won eleven competitive international games, lost eight times and drawn three times. In any case, goalkeeper Christian Früchtl wants to prevent the bad dozen. “I think it will be a different game than in Valencia. I hope that with the fans behind us we will have more chances to score and then take them.”