The SK Rapid rehabilitated itself properly for the solid 2-7 home loss to Red Bull Salzburg. Even though you had to digest a problematic first half against Sturm Graz. The analysis of the biggest rapid catch-up hunt in 35 years.
Dynamo Dresden, Sporting Lisbon and Co. – in the European Cup Rapid have made remarkable chases in two games. The last time Rapid turned a two-goal deficit into a win in a single game happened in September 1985. At that time, they were 0-2 up to the 78th minute against Salzburg AK before a penalty from Krankl and a late double pack from Kranjcar still turned the game.
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If you saw the first half in yesterday’s away game against Sturm Graz, you would hardly have expected this remarkable spin. Rapid ran in a 3-4-1-2 system, with the main change affecting double eight. Kühbauer wanted to ensure a more offensive headquarters and therefore put Dejan Ljubicic back in the middle field alongside Stefan Schwab. Before that, Knasmüllner also played. The defense was left up to Messrs. Greiml, Hofmann and Stojkovic.
Extremely intense Schwab, but little playful
The only advantage – it emerged in the course of the first half – was that Schwab and Ljubicic largely reflected Sturm’s double six with Ljubic and Dominguez and thus neutralized the headquarters as a whole. What was striking was the number of strokes that Captain Schwab went. The 29-year-old led a total of 37 duels and header duels (57% successful), almost twice as many duels as Ljubic and Dominguez. The hoped-for playful strengthening of the midfield by Ljubicic did not materialize because it was missing in the defense center and therefore the game structure in the middle was too messy.
Too little commitment in the central structure
Especially from the center of the central defense came too little. The fit patterns between the inside-outside pairs Greiml-Ullmann and Stojkovic-Schick had a high frequency, but the clean, vertical structure by Maximilian Hofmann through the middle was largely absent. As a result, the double eight in possession of the ball did not come into play well enough. In addition, the staggering was problematic because even when Ljubicic was set up, it often acted more aggressively than Schwab and so no linear link was built up. Added to this was the once again weak Knasmüllner, who was hiding on the ten or in the intermediate line space and anticipating too little, causing him to be largely in the air and Rapid to largely control the headquarters, but hardly dominate.
Storm hits the sides
Because Sturm held stalemates at best, Rapids’ goals were saved by actions on the wings: 1: 0 from a free kick flank extended by Hierländer, 2: 0, because Sturm for the first time crossed a flank exactly between two Rapid central defenders via the right side succeeded. Otar Kiteishvili, best Graz from yesterday, said thank you.
Kühbauer corrects errors, Rapid is easier to grip
Halfway through, Kühbauer corrected the tactical error on the grid. Maximilian Hofmann made room for Dejan Petrovic so that Dejan Ljubicic could slip back into central defense. The build-up game was immediately stronger and was also favored by the fact that Sturm became more passive with the lead in the back. In addition, there were now better defensive movements of the full-backs against the ball, which made the center even better occupied. Rapid also benefited from the passport patterns from Dejan Petrovic, who has very flexible passport habits for a figure of eight with some changes between short and long.
Kara comes for unfortunate Kitagawa
What followed was the important connecting goal after only six minutes in the second round. Kelvin Arase used a fine flank from Filip Stojkovic’s head to make it 1-2. Less than ten minutes later, Ercan Kara hit the bumper in the rapid attack. Instead of him, the Japanese Koya Kitagawa went off the pitch, who had some good moments in the first half, but forgave a seater in the second half, which unfortunately should in the end be the general association again. The 23-year-old continues to be unhappy, but still shows signs of hope.
Ibrahimoglu comes as a “high-acting free spirit”
With Kara’s entry, it was clear that Rapid was now looking for dominance in higher zones. On the one hand, the relief attacks by Sturm Graz were less, but on the other hand Rapid was too rarely concrete. That only changed at the beginning of the rapid quarter of an hour, when Kühbauer replaced Christoph Knasmüllner with Melih Ibrahimoglu. The 19-year-old is actually eighth, but was now able to mimic a flexible tens due to the high field position of the whole team. Schwab’s high duel frequency and Petrovic’s pass variability behind him should keep the youngster’s back free and offer plenty of space.
Ljubic’s last action tilts game
Only eight minutes after his substitution, Ibrahimoglu took his chance after a good pendulum movement and took out a penalty. The penalty situation was doubly bitter for Sturm because the fouling player was Ivan Ljubic, for whom it was the last action in the game. Immediately after Schwab’s penalty goal, he was replaced by Lukas Jäger, who was already on the outline at the time of the foul and was to be substituted for Ljubic.
Best Greiml campaign initiates winning goal
Storm was on the ropes, Rapid tried again to finally turn the game around. And similar to the 2-1 home win against Wolfsberger AC, it was a single courageous campaign by young hope Leo Greiml that initiated the winning goal. After a well-dueled duel and a short, quick move out during the set-up, the 18-year-old managed his best set-up action with a precise, wide ball. Schick dripped perfectly on Kara, who just cannot miss such opportunities at the moment.
Strong kara odds after seven Bundesliga games
Kara obviously has what it takes to become the new rapid clipper. After seven games and just 265 minutes of use, the 24-year-old stops with three goals and two assists, which corresponds to one scorer point per ~ 55 minutes. Interestingly, he also got four of his five scorer points in the last five minutes of the game. Most recently, you could see that his walking paths got much better within a very short time. There were worlds between his only second Bundesliga game, the 1-0 victory at LASK and yesterday’s seventh!
“Endgame” probably more likely against the WAC
Rapid forced three points with the first “3: 2-turn” in 35 years and is now back in 2nd place. The race for 2nd to 4th places is completely open, also because it is still not clear how many points the LASK from Permanent Neutral Arbitration Panel still got back. It is certain, however, that Rapid – regardless of the result against LASK next Wednesday – would land in Wolfsberg in front of the Carinthians with every point win. Even if you previously lost the home game against LASK and Wolfsberg wins in Hartberg. If one assumes that the LASK will get back more points – possibly even all of them – then gaining a point in the Lavant Valley would be tantamount to entering the Europa League group stage. So the correct endgame for Rapid will most likely not be the Wednesday game against LASK, but the last game of the season in Wolfsberg.
Daniel Mandl, abseits.at
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