WSG in the fight for survival

Everything feels like a final at the moment

Matthäus Taferner at the end: Play dangerously!(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Nine games to go! In round two of the qualifying group, WSG Tirol will travel to Lustenau to face Austria. And with it a pre-decisive match to ensure the team stays in the Bundesliga. A defeat in the Ländle would see the Tyroleans go home with the red lantern.

Valentino Müller clenches his fist and holds it martially in front of his determined face. It means: "Let's go - off to the Ländle!"

The end justifies the means
The WSG Tirol players grimly board the team bus to Vorarlberg on Friday. To the Saturday match against Austria Lustenau (17), the first of two survival finals against Andi Heraf's squad. Last against penultimate - aesthetics are on vacation, it's a matter of getting down to business, the end justifies (almost) any means, pragmatism rules.

The Tyroleans don't want to see that: Lustenau cheers!(Bild: GEPA pictures)

An endgame? WSG captain Müller shrugs his shoulders: "Honestly, every game feels like a final at the moment." Each of the nine remaining games in the qualifying group

Of course the pressure is on. You can feel that. But you can turn pressure into energy. And then it's something positive.

WSG-Kapitän Valentino Mülller

Bild: GEPA pictures

Just don't lose
Don't lose - that's what coach Thomas Silberberger has set as the basic requirement for Saturday. Logical: With a win, Austria from Lustenau could get rid of the red lantern for the first time since the 5th round (end of August)! That would unleash enormous forces in the Ländle. Forces that nobody in Wattens wants to know about. "If we can pull off our match plan," reassured the WSG coach, "then we'll go home through the Arlberg tunnel without losing."

Seven weeks ago, in the first match of the 2024 calendar year, the Tyroleans had (up to) 81% possession against Lustenau at the Tivoli - and lost 0:2. What they learned from that: Perform more dangerously, says the coach. And: "Avoid any kind of carelessness at all costs."

Linz at Austria Vienna
The second round of the qualifying group opens today with a match between Vienna Austria and Blau Weiß Linz (19:30). The Violets will be looking for their fourth win in their fourth home game in 2024, but Linz want more breathing space at the back.