A European Cup season begins for Rapid on Thursday (7 p.m. / ORF 1) with the home game against Lechia Gdansk, which the Hütteldorfers want to last as long as possible. Green-White enters the second qualifying round for the Conference League – a total of three rounds have to be survived in order to take part in the financially lucrative group phase. Third round opponent would be the winner from Aris Limassol (Cyprus) against Neftci Baku (Azerbaijan).
Coach Ferdinand Feldhofer doesn’t want to think that far. “The focus is clearly on the two games against Lechia,” emphasized the Styrian. Feldhofer described the Poles, who have Austrian right-back and former St. Pölten professional David Stec under contract, as “a very good team that plays well-kept football. Of course, we also recognized a few weaknesses.”
Lechia advanced to the second round with a 6-1 aggregate score against North Macedonia representative Akademija Pandev. The start of the Polish league failed last Sunday with a 0:3 away defeat against Wisla Plock. Nevertheless, Feldhofer’s respect is great. “Lechia is a very good opponent for the second qualifying round, a real hurdle. We will certainly need two very good performances. The key will be to win at home.”
In the dress rehearsal, the 1-0 in the first round of the ÖFB Cup in Treibach, Rapid revealed potential for improvement. “We took a few clues with us,” said Feldhofer, mentioning in this context the exploitation of chances, passing, remaining defense, positional play and standard situations. Before the first home game of the new season, the Rapid coach has a large selection of personnel, only the return of Ferdy Druijf, Maximilian Hofmann and Roman Kerschbaum, who are in advanced training, is still pending. Niklas Hedl starts in goal, otherwise one or the other position should still be open when looking for a regular formation. “A first eleven will emerge, but it will not be possible to play every three or four days with the same eleven or twelve players. There would be a rude awakening,” explained Feldhofer.
The coach can fall back on Christopher Dibon, who wants to do it again after many injuries. Despite the best bathing weather, the people of Hütteldorf are hoping for numerous supporters – around 12,000 spectators are expected. There is also a bonus: people under the age of 14 have free entry.