Austria’s double winners started with practically their best line-up, only goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen and the injured Lovro Zvonarek stayed in Graz. Daniil Chudjakow, who was signed in the summer, was in goal and was beaten for the first time after just three minutes, but Emanuel Aiwu cleared a shot from Randal Kolo Muani in front of the line. Four minutes later, Chudjakow let a shot from 16-year-old Mbaye through from a tight angle. Soler increased the lead to 2-0 for the French shortly afterwards after a pass from Kolo Muani.
Sturm came close thanks to Camara, the striker profiting from a serious mistake by 17-year-old defender Younes El-Hannach. Kiteishvili equalized with a great shot from the edge of the box into the far corner. Sturm changed all of his field players at half-time, while PSG coach Luis Enrique was a little more cautious with his substitutions. The spectators didn’t see any more goals in the rainy conditions at the end, but they did see one or two PSG stars like Kolo Muani, Soler, Marco Asensio and Warren Zaïre-Emery.
The fans’ satisfaction was accordingly high – as was that of Sturm’s business director Thomas Tebbich, who reported in an interview with ORF: “We will come out of this test match in a positive economic light.” Another plus point for the Styrian team was the knowledge gained in terms of organization, as they will have to play their Champions League matches in the Wörthersee Stadium from autumn onwards.
Result of a friendly match in Klagenfurt: Sturm Graz – Paris Saint-Germain 2:2 (2:2). Goals: Camara (15th), Kiteishvili (43rd) and Mbaye (9th), Soler (12th)
Lineup attack: Chudjakow – Gazibegovic (46. Johnston), Aiwu (46. Geyrhofer), Wüthrich (46. Dante), Lavalee (46. Karic) – Horvat (46. Hierländer), Gorenc-Stankovic (46. Malic), Kiteishvili (46. Sarkaria), Böving (46. Chukwuani) – Camara (46. Grgic), Biereth (46. Jatta)
2024-08-07 19:19:49