Austrian soccer runners-up Sturm Graz won two test matches on Friday. At the start, Christian Elzer’s team beat Partizan Belgrade 2-1 in Mesendorf, with Jakob Jantscher emerging as the scorer from the penalty spot. After that, Grazers kept the upper hand in Friedberg against Aris Limassol with 2:0. In the “first leg” in Vienna, Austria played 1-1 against Galatasaray Istanbul. LASK defeated Debrecen in Pasching 4:2.
Vice-captain James Holland scored for Austria in the 49th Minute with a slightly deflected shot. Mathieu Meisel was considered the last player to be involved in a red card against Dries Mertens (75), and the visitors equalized through Paris Yilmaz in the 83rd minute. At Galatasaray, the ÖFB corps played Yusuf Demir as part of the attacking triangle until the 61st minute before he had to leave the field in favor of Mertens. Most of the time the 20-year-old acted a little bit in the middle, but he also acted out the sides.
His shot from a good position in the fifth minute was amazing. In the 16th minute, another shot from the left foot flew over the goal. The former Sabidler’s former Austrian attache at Generali Arena was given an unfriendly reception by the Austrian, because this time he was dipped in orange instead of violet. The vast majority of the 9,800 guests at the stadium kept their fingers crossed for the Turks. At times, more than 300,000 users watched the live broadcast on Galatasaray’s YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, new signings Szymon Wlodarczyk and William Böving scored for Sturm against the Cypriots from Limassol. Coach Ilzer wasn’t 100% happy. “It was an intense friendly day. I’m not completely satisfied today because I saw some things we need to improve over the next few weeks.”
In addition to Robert Zolge, Marin Ljubicic and Branko Jovićić, LASK also made new signings Ilias Havel. “In the first round we had difficulty qualifying. In the second round we had a lot of grip,” summed up new coach Thomas Seiger.
Meanwhile, WSG Tirol won 2-1 in Wattens against third-division German side Sandhausen. Nick Brillick kicked two goals into Silberberger’s side in his new home jersey debut. However, Wydad in Wolfsburg suffered a 2-1 defeat in a friendly match against Al-Hilal.
