Austrian Schick and a large cauldron will play against Sparta!

The first competitive match of the new season is just around the corner! On Tuesday, Sparta will play an important match in Vienna (2nd Champions League preliminary round) against local Rapid. The namesake of the Czech forward Patrik Schick may play against them! Thorsten Schick is playing between the starting line-up and the substitutes’ bench.

Rapid’s dress rehearsal for the match against Sparta in Prague went well! In the Austrian Cup, Wiener Viktoria (a team from the Regional League) was swept 6:0 and even for such an “insignificant” match a large crowd arrived. See for yourself!

Fans who want to attend the match will have to show the necessary documents about being free of infection etc. before entering the arena. The capacity of the Allianz Stadium is over 28,000 spectators and should not be limited in any way.

Nevertheless, Sparta does not recommend its fans to travel to Austria. So what are the remote fans likely to see and what might surprise them?

The Schick factor! The namesake of the Czech national team striker plays for Rapid Vienna. Thorsten Schick wears the Vienna jersey, but unlike Patrik, he is a defender by profession and is 31 years old.

It is expected that over-defending doesn’t have to scare us! The newly modified rule on away goals plays into the hands of attacking football.

In the preliminary rounds of European competitions, the first game will no longer be a case of waiting for the opponent to make a mistake, but an attempt at active football from both sides.

Sources:: SK Rapid, Nurten Yilmaz, Livesport, UEFA, Wikipedia