In the ÖFB Cup

Moussa Dembele awaits Lustenau today

Lustenau goalkeeper Domenik Schierl is hoping for a quiet evening at Wals-Grünau in tonight's cup match.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Austria Lustenau are spared a long away trip in round one of the ÖFB Cup. The team led by new coach Martin Brenner has to face Salzburg West League side Wals-Grünau today at 7pm. The roles are seemingly clear-cut, even though the home side has a "big" name in the squad.

Wals-Grünau's sporting director Helmut Rottensteiner speaks of a super draw. "We're delighted that we've been given a Bundesliga relegated team and a club with a long tradition. We can only surprise and ensure that it will once again be a mega event in the entire community," he says, clearly seeing his team in the underdog role.

The Salzburg Dembele
Anyone looking through the opponent's squad list will also come across a certain Moussa Dembele. But of course, this is not the Moussa Dembele who grew up in the youth ranks of Paris St. Germain and later moved to Olympique Lyon via Fulham and Celtic Glasgow, where he scored 21 goals in 30 Ligue 1 games in the 2021/22 season and increased his market value to up to €50 million in the meantime. This Moussa Dembele currently plays for Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia. 
Wals-Grünau's Moussa David Dembele began his career at the club, later moved to the Red Bull Academy, was also part of the ÖFB U16 and U17 teams and returned to Wals-Grünau in July 2019 after a year abroad in Cologne.

Wals-Grünau's Moussa David Dembele (l.) in a duel with Altach's Momo Ouedraogo(Bild: Kronen Zeitung/Andreas Tröster)

Brenner with bad memories
The newly formed team from Lustenau go into the match as clear favorites. After the recent rather unsuccessful dress rehearsal against VfB Hohenems, coach Brenner wants to see a different face on the pitch today. Especially as the coach still has bad memories of his opponents from last year. The regional league runners-up picked up just one point against the Salzburg side, and VfB suffered a 1-0 defeat in Wals-Grünau. Understandably, the Lustenau coach wants to avoid a déjà vu. "We have to be wide awake from the very first minute. Because our goal is clearly to advance to the next round of the ÖFB Cup," says Brenner. Brenner will probably put his trust in the team that started at VfB.