Duel with Hartberg
“Sturm can be the nastiest team in the league”
In last season's title race, Hartberg almost spit in SK Sturm's championship soup. Ahead of the first clash on Sunday (17), the team from Eastern Styria are aiming to do so again. The TSV captain in particular is "on fire".
Congratulations, Jürgen Heil, on your 150th game in the Bundesliga! "Honestly? I didn't know that. I mean, you can estimate it a bit, but it's not like I think about it every day," grinned the TSV captain ahead of his anniversary in the clash with Sturm - in front of a sell-out crowd. "You play soccer for games like this."
The last few games against Sturm have been tough at times: in March, the Hartberg side drew 1-1 to secure their place in the Champions League. "Not easy when you have to do that against the league leaders," Heil looks back. Or the 1-1 draw on matchday 30, when Sturm had to fight with ten men for 80 minutes after a red foul by Stankovic (on Heil) - and probably got the decisive point in the championship race. Heil knows ahead of the new clash: "We can hurt Sturm with our style of play. But we also know that Graz can be the nastiest team in the Bundesliga when they bring their game to the pitch."
Hartberg are definitely ready for the fight. "The squad has done well. We'll need more, but you won't see how good many of our players can be until later. Some of them probably don't know that themselves yet. Now they have to invest everything in their development. Look at Sangare (note: last season in Hartberg), who is now one of the best at Rapid," says the East Styrian, whose heart beats a little for SK Sturm as a former corner man. Despite his Champions League year, "Heili" is staying away from Klagenfurt. "That's not for me. But the Champions League as a Styrian team is something very special. Unfortunately, I was still too young the first time under Osim, I was just two or three years old..." Now he himself is on the pitch against the Champions League fighters!
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