St. Pölten seeks turn in women's Europa Cup, Sturm Graz mammoth task

For the Austrian representatives in the Women’s‑Europa‑Cup, the Wednesday match decides their stay in the international competition: SKN St. Pölten must overturn a 0:2 deficit in Malmö, while Sturm Graz, after the 1:6 result in the first leg against Wolfsburg, still faces an almost impossible comeback.

Home‑strong Pölten on track

In the domestic Bundesliga, the wolves of Pölten display a perfect record: seven matches, seven wins and a goal ratio of 25:2. Last Saturday they secured a 4:0 victory against Blau‑Weiß‑Linz and now want to continue this run internationally.

Coach Laurent Fassotte emphasized before departure that the team would approach the game differently. “We will approach the game differently,” he announced. He added: “Malmö is strong, but they also have their weaknesses.” The Belgian coach wants to exploit the Swedish opponents’ weaknesses.

The Swedish opponents had to endure a 1:3 defeat against Brommapojkarna in the league over the weekend. Fassotte wants to use this to his team’s advantage and warns against falling behind early. “We believe in our qualities. If we score the first goal, we are back in the game, and confidence will swing to our side,” he said.

Sturm Graz facing a mammoth task

Sturm Graz faces an almost impossible task, as the first leg against Wolfsburg left a five‑goal deficit of 1‑6. The German opponents have been among Europe’s elite for years and have already won the Champions League twice, in 2013 and 2014.

Most recently, Wolfsburg demonstrated its class again with a 6‑0 victory over second‑division side SC Sand in the cup. However, the Graz players suffered the first Bundesliga defeat of the season on Sunday, a 0‑2 loss to Austria Wien, yet they remain in second place with six wins and one draw.

The second leg in Graz‑Liebenau kicks off at 18:30, while the match in Malmö on Wednesday will be played at 19:00. Both teams want to give everything in front of their own fans to progress in the Women’s‑Europa‑Cup.