After the clear victory, Rapid has a very good chance of promotion to the play-off of the Europa League despite adverse circumstances.
The relief was ubiquitous in the catacombs of the West Stadium after the 3-0 win against Famugusta in the third round of qualifying for the Europa League. The results at Sparta Prague (0: 2) and against Hartberg (0: 2) gnawed at the self-confidence of the Green and White.
The fact that a sovereign home win against the Cypriots despite the tense personnel situation brightened the mood noticeably. Captain Maximilian Hofmann explained: “We knew that Famagusta would not attack like hell. We managed to keep them away from our goal and we also scored in front. “
The lead of three goals seems comfortable: “We haven't scored the goals lately, now we have three. That’s a good cushion. And next week we will go up. “
By then, the corona tests will show whether the personnel situation has improved. After Robert Ljubicic, regular players Filip Stojkovic and Dejan Petrovic were also hit on Thursday. So coach Didi Kühbauer had to improvise. “It's crazy when you have five boys on the bench who have 15 Bundesliga games together and 13 of them are the Lion Shoemaker. The guys did really well. But the Glücksengerl should be far away from Hütteldorf at the moment, “he said at the press conference after the game and, looking mischievously, said to the translator:” It will be difficult to translate now. “
The coach didn't like the discussion between Christoph Knasmüllner and Ercan Kara before the penalty, which the former missed when the score was 1-0. “You like to discuss. If that were a round of discussion, then it would be okay. But we're on the soccer field. Someone should shoot there. “
Kühbauer denied that Knasmüllner, who came eight further back than usual, was replaced after 71 minutes: “I'm not angry with him. He played very well, but then stopped doing the paths he didn't like to go anyway and Grahovac was often alone in the center with that. The exchange was purely for tactical reasons. Everyone can shoot once. ”
Marco Grüll , the goal scorer to make it 3-0, said with satisfaction: “We should have led higher in the first half. But the 3-0 is a very good result. We have created a great starting position. We'll play so that we don't lose. “
Max Hofmann was delighted with the performance of the young players: “It's bitter when important players drop out at short notice. But we have a good squad and the boys compensated for that. Sometimes it is good when the boys are thrown into the deep end because they can often only look good. It was the same for me back then. “
