The marmot greets you every year: the Europa League season takes place without the SK storm. The team from Graz won against FK Haugesund at home 2:1, but the mortgage from the first leg (0:2) was too big. Accordingly, there is a hangover atmosphere in the Blackies’ camp.
“The second consecutive home win is a small, meaningless consolation. The guys gave everything and sometimes played very well. The opponent was incredibly effective or happy over two encounters, depending on how you see it. At this level you live on details. I personally am not so disappointed, because for Sturm Graz – with our coefficient – a way into the group phase is a very long one. Realistically, that’s only possible through the league,” said Sturm coach Nestor El Maestro on PULS4 right after the defeat.
He said it was “hard for him to find anything positive.” A win would have been worth money, for the fans it would have been best to play against PSV Eindhoven in the next round of the Europa League qualification. But Haugesund was too effective, as defender Lukas Spendlhofer also said: “We were the clearly better team or at least the more dangerous team over two games, but that doesn’t help if the opponent shoots three goals and the ball is three.
After all, Sturm can take comfort in having won a European Cup home game for the first time in eight years. But one thing weighs heavily: Thorsten Röcher had to leave the field after 26 minutes, the thigh pinched. An exact diagnosis has yet to be made.
