It’s over and over – a Bundesliga season full of disappointments came to an end for LASK yesterday with the final disillusionment: the hoped-for trip to Europe in the play-off semifinals against Tyrol ended in Innsbruck with a 1-2 draw. The athletes didn’t deserve a chance at the European Cup either.
A bus full of LASK fans only arrived after the game had started. When the supporters poured into the shockingly poorly manned away block in the 15th minute, they had missed nothing. Then they were shown again what LASK is missing throughout the season: center forwards who can score goals – even out of nowhere. Giacomo Vrioni climbed higher than Rene Renner after a cross from Kofi Schulz and placed the header perfectly under the bar – 1:0 (22nd). At 2-0, Vrioni defended the ball against Hyun-seok Hong and served Thomas Sabitzer, who put Oumar Sako on the ground with a hook and deliberately pushed in to make it 2-0 (45+1). Ironically, the LASK loan met – and will therefore not play in the European Cup when he returns.
Balic retired injured
The center forward misery at LASK, on the other hand, had gotten worse before that: temporary assault tank Husein Balic, who had scored twice against Admira, suffered an adductor injury, and Andreas Gruber, who was 1.74 meters tall and weighed 70 kilograms, had to take the striker give, which should break Tyrol’s defensive bulwark.
Without the injured Keito Nakamura, a long-range shot by Thomas Goiginger (25th) was the only dangerous action before the break. There were inexplicably many bad passes, the Tyroleans were always a step faster in the duels.
Even after the break, there was little except for two Goiginger shots (70th, 74th). Julius Ertlthaler missed the chance to finally make everything clear with the 3-0 (66th). The athletes let the ball run around the barricaded penalty area, the crosses were ineffective without a robust taker with goal instinct in the middle. Hope germinated briefly when Goiginger reduced the deficit to 1:2 with a penalty (86th). But it was not enough and it was too late.
On Thursday against Rapid
The Tyroleans will now play the final first leg against Rapid at home on Thursday, and on Sunday the second leg in Vienna will decide who will start in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. “The format is crazy for the teams that played in the semi-finals,” Kühbauer said on Friday about the three games within six days. He doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. From now on he can concentrate on how LASK gets back on its feet in the coming season – because the former top player in Austrian football rightly took eighth place. If you want to go back up, a change in the summer will be necessary.
The live ticker to read:
Source: Nachrichten
