Manfred Fischer:

“We scored the two goals we conceded ourselves”

Austria captain Manfred Fischer

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Vienna's Austria had imagined a different start to the season. The Bundesliga club returned from the European Cup opener in Finland without a winning result. They suffered a thoroughly deserved 2:1 defeat at Ilves Tampere in the second qualifying round of the Conference League on Thursday. "You have to be honest: we scored the two goals we conceded ourselves through individual mistakes," said captain Manfred Fischer. 

After the unsuccessful debut as head coach of the "Veilchen", Stephan Helm was combative. "We'll do everything we can next week to turn the result around."

The first half showed glimpses of where the journey under Helm is heading: Pressing early, getting into transitional situations and starting the express towards the opponent's goal when the ball is won. However, this was rarely achieved in Tampere. On top of that, the Violets were ineffective with their few chances. Muharem Huskovic missed the best chance to score an early goal (15th), which would have given the game the desired direction from Austria's point of view.

Austria coach Stephan Helm (right) and assistant coach Christian Wegleitner

(Bild: GEPA)

Weak defensive play
The Achilles' heel in the far north, however, was the defensive behavior. When the well-coordinated team of coach Joonas Rantanen launched quick counter-attacks, the back line of the favorites did not look good time and time again. "We were too imprecise in the transition situations in defense and made it too easy for Ilves Tampere to concede goals," criticized Helm. His captain was even clearer. "You have to be honest: we scored the two goals we conceded ourselves through individual mistakes," said Manfred Fischer.

The 0:1 was the result of a blatant mistake by Marvin Martins, who blundered under pressure from the onrushing Santeri Haarala (51'). The Finnish goalscorer did not miss the opportunity. The Austria defense was also disorganized when former St. Pölten player Roope Riski made it 2-0 after a long clearance. The 32-year-old took full advantage of the confusion (88'). "The result is bitter because I think we had the game under control - but the transition situations hurt us time and again," said Fischer. Things that can still be remedied over the course of the season.

"I'm still confident that we'll get over it"
The fact that the chance of promotion is still alive is thanks to a burst of energy from Lucas Galvao, who intercepted a ball on the edge of the opponent's penalty area, created space to the left and then scored the important follow-up goal (90'). "That makes our starting position a bit better next week. We'll have to give it 100 percent once again and throw everything into it. Then I'm still confident that we'll get through it," said Austria's new number one Samuel Sahin-Radlinger.

The return match will take place next Wednesday (20:30) in the Generali Arena, and promotion would be important for Austria not only for sporting reasons, but probably also for financial reasons. The team certainly wants to show a reaction. "We said straight after the game: nobody should hang their heads, we still have a second leg," explained Fischer.