“I have to give the team incredible praise, I’m really proud of them. The fact that we have collected so many points in the last few months and are enough for the championship group is simply great,” said the LASK coach after the 2-2 draw on Sunday evening at Wiener Austria, with which the athletes had finally secured their ticket to the top six. Thanks to impressive series: Linz remained unbeaten in eleven of twelve league games under Kühbauer, in the second half of the season the black and whites scored the most points of all Bundesliga teams, and the average points since the change of coach was 2.25 per game.
This means that the athletes are allowed to plan one lap before the end of the basic round for the master group. “That was our big goal. If we think back, not many people would have thought that we could do it so confidently. We are very happy about it,” said goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth, who kept his goal clean in a third of the league matches so far. Overall, LASK is now represented in the top play-off for the sixth time in eight years since points were introduced. Only RB Salzburg, SK Sturm (8 each) and possibly SK Rapid, who have the chance to take part for the seventh time next weekend, have managed this more often.
While the joy over the championship group prevailed, many crying eyes about the missed victory at Austria could not be swept under the carpet. For the first time in the current season, the Linz team gave up points after taking a lead, after having won all of the ten games in question. “The performance was okay, we were well prepared for the opponent. However, it is bitter to concede the equalizer twice,” said keeper Jungwirth, who had shown a strong performance. Just like Moses Usor, who once again appeared as a goalscorer and assist provider and now has twelve scorer points. Two other statistics are also noteworthy: George Bello played in a competitive game for the athletes for the 100th time, Christoph Lang scored his fourth joker goal in the current championship – that means the best score ex aequo with Salzburg’s Yorbe Vertessen.
Two places in the championship group will still be awarded on the last matchday, and LASK no longer has to worry about that before the final duel in the Raiffeisen Arena on Sunday (5:00 p.m.) against Wolfsberger AC. Regardless, they are aiming for a complete success against the Lavanttal team – a victory at the end would mean the second best result in the first 22 rounds in the last five years. Before that, however, another big goal awaits the black and whites: In the second Upper Austria derby within a few weeks, the ticket for Klagenfurt should be booked on Wednesday (8:30 p.m., live ORF 1) away against SV Ried in the ÖFB Cup semi-final. “A very important game. It’s about attacking and getting to the final,” emphasized Jungwirth.
Tickets LASK – Wolfsberger AC
Tickets Fanabend SV Ried – LASK
