LASK's results since their restart were LDLLWWWLLL, so W3 D1 L6 (they have that odd title playoff system), and two of the wins were against Sturm Graz, who lost every match except one after their restart and were hammered in about half of them. They were deducted 4 points eventually for breaking COVID regulations in training (someone installed a spycam and filmed them) and dropped from first to finish fourth.
The manager from the first leg, Valerian Ismaël, was fired and replaced by Dominik Thalhammer, the national women's' team coach. This will be his first competitive match in charge, and he hasn't filled all his coaching staff positions yet.
Klauss and Tetteh, who were two of their main players in the first leg, were on loan and have returned to their home clubs. They also have 2, possibly 3, players out with injury. They have 4 new players, but none are eligible to play the EL matches. They played their last match about a month ago, so that could work both ways for them.
The manager and a couple of the players are sounding brave, and the manager says he's committed to their high-press style of play, but to be honest, we didn't see too much of it in the first leg. Their newspapers don't give them much of a chance, and expect we "will probably compete with a B, perhaps also a C or D team" (they also have a much higher opinion of our players on the bench than we do!).
They've nothing to lose by trying to overturn the result, so maybe they'll try taking us on with an early high press - but I'd be seriously surprised if this is anything other than a formality, and I'm inclined to take Ole at his word and expect something close to the team that beat them 5-0 in the first leg, with some youth maybe coming off the bench if we take an early lead and look comfortable.
Familiar faces
