LASK wants to warm up in Tyrol for the European Cup comeback

It’s the dress rehearsal for the European Cup comeback on Thursday against Zrinjski Mostar: After winning the derby against Blau-Weiss Linz on Saturday, will LASK continue to pick up the pace away against Tirol (5 p.m.)? “We want to take the momentum from the derby with us,” said coach Thomas Sageder before the game against the bottom team with no points.

He spoke of an “unpleasant task”. The Tyroleans have often been a brake on athletes in the past: LASK has only won one game in Innsbruck since the 2021/22 season, and the 1: 4 at home in the ninth round of the previous season is also badly remembered – it was the first loss of the season. In each of the last four duels, Tirol scored more than one goal against LASK.

Undefeated last

Tirol lost all three previous games, after the 0:1 in Altach last Sunday coach Thomas Silberberger raged: “We were shit from the first to the 98th minute.” That’s why he grabbed his bag of tricks in preparation for LASK. “We talked more than we trained this week.” Silberberger let his professionals slip into the role of coach and talk about possible game plans. The experiment, in which everyone had to write down their desired line-up, brought “positive surprises” as well as players who were “overwhelmed by the situation”. As WSG Tirol one is used to grief. Silberberger: “The WSG stands for overcoming crises together.” This is also proven by their record as bottom of the table: Tirol bottom of the Bundesliga went into a game six times – they never lost (three wins, three draws).

Mostar in LASK sights

At LASK, preparations for the play-off home game in the Europa League against Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday in the Raiffeisen Arena have been underway for a long time. The 0:1 away against Breidablik was enough for Bosnia-Herzegovina’s champions after the 6:2 at home for promotion.

Because no major information was to be expected in the second leg due to the starting position, LASK did not send any observers to Iceland. The game will be processed via video. Video analyst Daniel Rozsa and Dino Buric, assistant to sports director Radovan Vujanovic, were there for the first leg in the third qualifying round – at the Bijeli Brijeg Stadium, where LASK wants to secure entry into the Europa League group stage on August 31.