FC Basel needs a premiere to reach the play-off of the Champions League. Never before has the club ensured progress only with an away win. Coach Marcel Koller is nevertheless optimistic before the return leg on Tuesday that the 1:2 will be caught up. “We have the playful quality, but we have to fight harder and fight harder.”
The former ÖFB team leader said that the performances of the LASK showed great team spirit. “We need to be wide awake from the start and alert to standards so that we don’t run after them,” Koller said. He said immediately after his promotion against PSV Eindhoven that it would be more difficult against the LASK. “We noticed that in the first leg,” said the Swiss, who thinks a lot of Kemal Ademi. “With Ademi, we have a great and mighty striker. We can now stay in possession after long balls and flanks.”
Defender Silvan Widmer firmly believes in advancement. “We’ve come here to achieve something great. We know we need two goals, but we will make it hard for the LASK from the first second.”
LASK captain Gernot Trauner said there was nothing better than to play on the Gugl in front of a sold out house. “We got ourselves into a superposition, but we’ll only make it through a compact team effort,” explained the 27-year-old. “Basel brings with it an extreme physicality, little things will decide.”
Coach Valerien Ismael doesn’t want to know about his team’s role as favourite after the 2-1 win in Basel. “We won the first leg, but we’re not a team that can calculate. We have to go 90 minutes over our limit”, the Strasbourg native stressed.
The team has a clear philosophy and clear principles, regardless of whether Vöcklamarkt or Basel are the opponents. “We believe in our strength and will march as far as our legs will carry us. But we won’t let ourselves be pushed into the role of favourites,” said Ismael. “We are and will remain outsiders.”
The former defensive player demands a courageous appearance from his team, because Basel will present itself differently than a week ago. “Very concentrated, more aggressive and with intense duels” Ismael said about the expected performance of the opponent. “It will be important for us not to be distracted by the concept, to accept the duels and to fight them intensively.”
