Participation in the Champions League gives SK Sturm the opportunity to compete with the elite of European football. It was not necessary to emphasize the fact that the double winner of Austria is competing as a clear foreigner due to resources alone, before the start of the first class. The two narrow victories at Stade Brest (1:2) and against Bruges (0:1) emphasized this assumption.
The Olympic motto, according to which everything exists, remains logically indifferent from Sturm’s point of view. However, it was not a secret from the start that they wanted to use the top club competition to continue learning. However, there are also areas where you can present your own progress over the past few years. When it comes to mileage, the “Blackies” have nothing to hide compared to other European countries. The values from the first two matches already show this.
Sturm am Stockerl
The Sturm players ran a total of 242.55 kilometers against Brest and Bruges, which means that the Graz team even reached the podium in third place among the 36 clubs that took part. Only Shakhtar Donetsk with 244.59 kilometers and FC Bayern with 244.09 kilometers covered even more distance. Salzburg is second from Austria in 16th place with 232.73 kilometers.
Of course, this is just an example, but a sensible one. After all, the good performance in international comparison is exactly what coach Christian Ilzer likes, as Black and White define themselves through this strength, among other things. “We are a very strong running team,” says the coach, “in recent years we have been the strongest running team in the league in Austria, especially when it comes to intensity meters and sprints, which are the most important parameters for our part. game.”
According to Ilzer, Sturm are now back on track in the Bundesliga in this regard, after they were still not at their best at the start of the season and that may be why their performances looked a little worse than usual. Although this trump card can be used to develop a certain dominance in national events, this is not so easy at Champions League level.
Max Johnston covered the most distance
“We do a lot of full meters internationally because you run after a lot more,” Ilzer explains and states: “There are a lot of sprints to do. It takes a lot of energy to be ready to always run into spaces behind your opponents. We also need to continue to run corrections.”
Max Johnston has managed the most kilometers of any Sturm player in the Champions League © GEPA
Sturm’s strongest player in the first two first-class matches was Max Johnston with 23.3 kilometers, although he only came on against Brest after ten minutes in place of the injured Gregory Wüthrich. This puts the Scot in 20th place among all players in the Champions League season so far. With Otar Kiteishvili, who ranked 39th (22.5 kilometers), William Böving (64th place, 21.7 kilometers), Emanuel Aiwu (95th place, 21.1 kilometers) and Jusuf Gazibegovic, who finished 20.9 kilometers 100th place, five Sturm kickers to do at the moment six into the top 100. Aiwu and Gazibegovic are the only Sturm midfielders who haven’t missed a minute.
For comparison: the interim ranking is led by the Benfica kicker Florentino with 25.4 kilometers. Sporting brings today’s opponent ex-Admiraner Morten Hjulmand to ninth place with 24 kilometers. The Bologna legionnaire Stefan Posch is in 15th place with 23.7 kilometers. You will not find a representative from Salzburg in the top 100. Mika Biereth is the fastest measured main class player in Sturm at 34.4 km/h.
Happy birthday Ilzer
A strong current performance will be needed again against the strong Sports team. “We will definitely run after a lot,” believes Ilzer, “our task will be to stay close, even if they play us apart. The sport has what it takes to create holes in their opponents with their ball security and good dribblers. A great challenge awaits us.”
Sturm coach Christian Ilzer celebrated his 47th birthday on Monday © GEPA
The 47-year-old has already repeatedly emphasized that he currently rates the Portuguese as one of the best teams in Europe. Incidentally, Ilzer is only 47 years old as of yesterday, which is why the coach has one wish: “If we really score points against Sporting and qualify for the Champions League like that, it would be a gift perfect birthday for me.”