There was heavy snowfall in Klagenfurt yesterday when LASK arrived in exile at home. As the established group winners, the athletes can afford a slip today against HJK Helsinki, on Sunday in the Bundesliga away against Austria such a slip would be fatal. “I’m not giving too much away when I say that the game lends itself to rotation,” said coach Andreas Wieland.
Andreas Gruber will be in the starting XI for the first time after his cruciate ligament rupture. The 26-year-old basically feels good in the snow: at the age of eleven he was the Austrian slalom champion, but then decided to go around defenders with a soccer ball. “I don’t necessarily need snow on the pitch,” said the Styrian with a wink.
The opponent is used to wintry conditions, HJK Helsinki comes cold to Klagenfurt: On October 31, the Finnish record champions fixed the 31st title, since then only the two European Cup games against Maccabi Tel Aviv (0: 3) and Alashkert (1: 0 ) disputed. For the Finns, too, the game only has statistical value, they are firmly in third place. According to Wieland, motivation at LASK will not fail because of the possible prize money, “because we owed one thing or the other”.
Source: Nachrichten
