Klauß-Elf remains calm

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Rapid want to win the Europa League qualifying second leg against Trabzonspor.(Bild: GEPA)

Rapid remain calm after the 1:1 slip-up at Wörthersee. Goalie Niklas Hedl is back in the Europa League qualifiers. Opponents Trabzonspor tear themselves apart.

The praise after the 1:0 wins against Sturm and in Trabzon didn't sit well with Rapids coach Klauß: "The higher the pedestal is built, the lower you can fall." The German then calmly took note of the first setback: despite being outnumbered for 50 minutes, they only drew 1-1 in Klagenfurt, giving away two points. "Not enough," Klauß knew. He did not doubt the rotation (six men), the problem was precision, greed: "The final determination was missing." It was also bad luck for Beljo, who hit the aluminum twice. But not only that.

Warning - but no room for doubt
What will they take away from the slip-up at Wörthersee? "The game showed that we must not give an inch," says sporting director Katzer as a warning. Because on Thursday (20,000 tickets have been sold) comes Trabzon, the million-dollar game for a place in the European group stage. There is no room for doubt now.

Thick air for the Turks
The opponent is there to be torn apart - the air is thick with the Turks. After the 0:1 against Rapid, there were fan protests and shouts of "Avci out!" against the coach. These have now become even louder following the 0-0 draw at Sivaspor in the league opener, including criticism from the media. "One point is too much for this soccer" and "Do you ever score a goal?" were two of the headlines.

Avci is combative and says: "I never give up. It will work when we are well-rehearsed." Hopefully that will take time. The Ukrainian Bagatov is now the tenth (!) new signing for 1.8 million euros. Naturally without eligibility to play in the Europa League qualifiers ...

... in which Rapids goalkeeper Niklas Hedl will play again on Thursday. He was rested in Klagenfurt due to a knee injury.