Full speed into the final furlongs

In partnership with

FC Red Bull Salzburg

·15 March 2024

Full speed into the final furlongs

Hartberg to start championship group

Austria is feeling rather springlike these days, and things are well and truly heating up in domestic football too with the ADMIRAL Bundesliga championship group! We are starting this with a home match on Sunday 17 March at 17:00 CET against the surprises of the season from Hartberg.

The side coached by Markus Schopp showed once again last week how much they deserve to be in the leading pack of six with a draw in a derby against Sturm Graz.

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It is our fourth meeting with Hartberg this season after two fixtures in the regular season and a meeting in the UNIQA ÖFB Cup last 16. We are therefore well aware of our opponents' strength.

Our last meeting in Salzburg under the snow looked destined to be a draw until Dorgeles Nene struck in the 85th minute to seal a win. A few weeks previously, we had played out a nail-biting last 16 tie at the Profertil Arena in the cup, which we were only able to win after a penalty shootout. We took a clear win against Hartberg in our away visit in the Bundesliga this season, winning 5-1.

A good omen for Sunday is that our Red Bulls have never lost a championship round match at home! We were the highest-scoring side in the regular season (with 45 goals) as well as having the meanest defence (just 12 goals conceded). Now we have to take a win at home to TSV Hartberg to start the final sprint in ideal style!

Anyone yet to seal their spot in the Red Bull Arena can still get tickets for the home match in our online Ticket Shop.

to the Ticket Shop

The shuttle service will this time be running only from the Hanuschplatz and the Design and Outletcenter (P-DOC). The P-Messe car park is NOT available on Sunday.

We have put together everything you need to know in our latest matchday info:

to the matchday info

Register for the My RBS Prediction Game

The free My RBS Prediction Game is running again during the championship and qualification rounds of the 2023/24 ADMIRAL Bundesliga season! You can pit yourselves against friends and other fans week by week to try to win great prizes – taking part is totally worth it!

Register via the link below, in case you have not done so yet, and enter your predictions for the next matchday.

to the prediction gaME

Injury news

Not available for the match are Samson Baidoo (ankle), Hendry Blank (ill), Nicolas Capaldo (knee), Leandro Morgalla (recovering), Luka Sucic (knee) and Andreas Ulmer (calf).
Aleksa Terzic is out with thigh problems.

Views

We are entering the final straight, and from now on every win is worth three points. I expect that our team will be focused and determined. I expect a performance that makes everyone feel that we want to succeed. Asides from the fact that Hartberg have no pressure going into the championship group and they can play freely, they have shown they are a good team. I don't think it is a surprise they qualified for the championship group. They follow a clear playing idea, which they convincingly and successfully put into practice. Making the top six in the league is their reward for that.

Bernhard Seonbuchner

We know really well by now what Hartberg offer and what they are all about. It's down to us to find solutions against their positioning and eke out an advantage. We want to show that from the first seconds on this Sunday.

Gerhard Struber