Europa League: LASK misses with head held high

“It was an incredibly good tactical performance,” said LASK manager Dominik Thalhammer after the game against London’s best club. “Anything else that at least earning a point would not have been appropriate for the game,” emphasized the 50-year-old, whose “joker” Mamadou Karamoko scored the final score in the last minute.

Thalhammer’s famous counterpart agreed with his fellow coach. “We did not play well and we did not deserve to win. LASK was better than us, “said the Portuguese, who had already praised his opponent on the eve of the match and felt confirmed.” I knew it would be difficult, LASK is a good team. They were more excited and they were together he deserved the last goal ”. For the coach, “the only positive thing was the result.”

In the end, the draw after a good performance on the empty Linzer Gugl was not enough for LASK, because Royal Antwerp defeated the bottom of the group Ludogorez Rasgrad 3: 1 in the parallel match of Group J. In addition to the Belgians, the English also they bought the ticket for the final sixteenth of the new year. The “Spurs”, who are now two points behind Antwerp, are three points ahead of LASK before the final matchday, which has no chance due to the direct match lost (0: 3 in the first leg).

Promotion not played against Tottenham

“Everybody knows where the points were, that is, in the home game against Antwerp,” Thalhammer said, recalling the 2-0 draw a week ago at the same point. That made promotion a long way off, the game against Tottenham became a Herculean task, which, however, was mastered with great success given the starting position. “Today the focus is on performance and I am very satisfied with it,” said Thalhammer, who “gladly accepted” Mourinho’s congratulations on the athletes’ performance after the match.

Despite some notable flaws, such as those of the captain and head of defense Gernot Trauner, as well as his fellow defender Petar Filipovic and offensive forces Marko Raguz and Hussein Balic, LASK managed to dictate the game to the guests. Although Tottenham did not play with the best lineup, as expected, there was only talk of a “B-Elf” among players like Gareth Bale, Son Heung Min and Lucas Moura in the starting lineup of the 2019 Champions League finalists.

Mourinho is not surprised

Mourinho, who posted a photo of himself in the snowy oval on Instagram after the last international match before the Gugl demolition work began, already had a certain premonition at the start of the match. “When I saw both teams warm up, I had a feeling. I told the players that there was a big difference in intensity, communication and enthusiasm. “

While the 57-year-old did identify motivation issues among his players in the third away game of this group stage (“It’s a question of attitude”), LASK was not lacking in commitment. “We put a lot of pressure in the first 20 minutes and forced Tottenham to make mistakes. They only played long balls after that. It was a very good performance not only with the ball, but also against the ball ”, analyzed Thalhammer.

With a long shot from midfielder Peter Michorl, the hosts deservedly took the lead shortly before the break. But as the best clubs often do against outsiders, the guests took advantage of the opponent’s few mistakes. Two avoidable penalties and a sloppy pass resulted in three conceded goals. “It’s tight and you just have to be focused for 90 minutes in the Europa League. Any mistake will be punished, ”Thalhammer explained, drawing similar lessons from the 2-0 draw against Antwerp.

“You can still benefit from it for a long time”

At least this time they managed to finish the game with eleven and even made up a deficit twice. So not only the performance increased, but the result as well, as Michorl explained. “We showed an incredible performance. A 3: 3 against Tottenham, you can take advantage of it for a long time ”. But he also critically commented that you scored the goals yourself.

Last year LASK won their group on their Europa League debut with 13 points, this time the final could be scored with ten points if the last match is successfully played against the useless Ludogorez Razgrad. “That wouldn’t be too bad either,” said Thalhammer, who was generally satisfied.

“We can be satisfied with the current development, as demonstrated by today’s game. We played brilliantly against the ball and developed very well on the ball. We have had some experience in the Europa League. In the first half in London we lacked courage. We show it today. “