European Cup: Rapid dreams of Florence

“I wish with all my heart to be able to play against Fiorentina,” said Rapid coach Zoran Barisic before the third-round second leg in qualifying for the Europa Conference League in Debrecen on Thursday (9 p.m., ORF 1). For the wish to come true, his team must win in Debrecen today to be rewarded with the play-off duel against the Italian first division soccer team.

For this, an increase in comparison to the 0-0 at home and the 0-1 in the Bundesliga against Hartberg is needed. “It’s important to process and tick off negative experiences as quickly as possible, so of course it’s an advantage if there’s a game coming up again quickly,” said Barisic. “I think Rapid are still favorites to get promoted,” said Debrecen coach Srdjan Blagojevic.

2500 Legia fans in Vienna

Austria go into the home game against Legia Warsaw (7 p.m., ORF 1) with a 2-1 lead. Maintaining the lead is not an option for coach Michael Wimmer: “We will play to win and want to rise with the fans behind us.”

The supporters of Poland employ the police – 2500 Legia fans are expected, 1450 have tickets for the Generali Arena. A duel between Austria and Legia in 2004 in the Ernst Happel Stadium was explosive: the Polish fans had rioted and would not tolerate security guards or police officers in their away sector. On the other hand, last October’s game against Lech Posen, whose supporters are also known for their readiness to use violence, went extremely quietly.