Say hello to Schöpf and Hinteregger, and goodbye to Biereth and Ljubicic – there have been plenty of big-name movements among our rivals in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga over the winter break! Before we finally get back to business this weekend, we have summarised the changes at Austria's top clubs over recent weeks in our opposition analysis.

SK Sturm Graz | 1st place - 36 points

There has been plenty afoot at Sturm over the winter - with interim coach Jürgen Säumel appointed on a permanent basis and sporting director Michael Parensen also having his hands full!

Two key players have left the champions in Mika Biereth (AS Monaco) and Jusuf Gazibegovic (Cologne). Manprit Sarkaria has also departed (SZ Peng City), albeit he was playing for the reserves in the autumn, as has loan player Erencan Yardimci (return to TSG Hoffenheim). They have gained former Rapid striker Fally Mayulu from Bristol City on a six-month loan as well as signing 19-year-old full-back Emran Soglo from the Olympique Marseille youth ranks.

The big winter reshuffle has clearly left its impact on the Graz outfit. Both a friendly against HNK Rijeka and a cup tie against Austria Vienna were lost 0-2. Kiteishvili & Co showed that they still have it, however, with a 1-0 UEFA Champions League win at home to RB Leipzig.

It isn't long until we lock horns in a big clash - on Sunday 2 March at 17:00 at our Red Bull Arena. Tickets are already available in our online Ticket Shop!

FK Austria Vienna | 2nd place - 33 points

Perhaps the biggest surprises of the season so far had a quieter winter break. Matteo Schablas of FC Liefering was signed - but immediately went out on loan. Marvin Martins also left the club for the Netherlands, while Muharem Huskovic and Matteo Meisl have exited on loans. Two friendly wins and a draw are signs that the first half of the season was no fluke - an impression reinforced by a stunning 2-0 away win at reigning champions Sturm Graz in the cup quarter-finals. Austria Vienna are not a side you want to rule out of the running for the remainder of the season.

We still have to travel to Vienna to face Austria - on Matchday 19 on 22 February (to the away info).

SK Rapid Vienna | 3rd place - 28 points

Just like their rivals across the capital, Rapid are seeking to build on a very promising autumn. They have reinforced their central midfield over the break with Romeo Amane - a 21 year-old Ivorian who joins from BK Häcken in Sweden. Deadline day loans of Ercan Kara (who is back at Rapid) and Andrija Radulovic are designed to boost the attack.

There haven't been too many outgoings for the Green and Whites. Maximilian Hofmann and Bernhard Zimmermann left the club on free transfers, while Samuel Horak and Dennis Kaygin left on loan and the loan deal of Ryan Mmaee was terminated early - but the key players from the first half of the season have all remained.

The Bundesliga opener against WAC on Saturday will be the first big test of the new year for Rapid Vienna. Their preparation period was less than spectacular with 1-0 wins against both St. Pölten and Blau-Weiß Linz, with Klauß's XI yet to have a competitive tie in 2025.

Wolfsberger AC | 4th place - 26 points

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WAC were active right at the end of the transfer window! The Wolves are able to welcome Anderson Niangbo back to the Austrian Bundesliga, while there is another former Austrian international in their ranks with Alessandro Schöpf. Ivorian pair of Claude Kouakou and Abou Sylla were unveiled as last-minute additions on Thursday afternoon.

They have started the new year well - with a 3-1 win in the UNIQA ÖFB Cup against second-tier SW Bregenz putting Didi Kühbauer's side in the semi-finals.

WAC are visiting us to finish the regular season on Sunday 16 March.

FC Blau-Weiß Linz | 6th place - 23 points

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The start of the second season from the newly promoted side from Austria's steel city has been a promising one, but they are still looking to build. Thomas Turner from SKN St. Pölten is boosting the Linz goalkeeping ranks, while 20-year-old defending specialist Elias Bakatukanda has been taken on loan from Cologne. The young defender will fill a vacant position that arose after the retirement of Silvan Wallner in November 2024. Scheiblehner's side ended their preparation period with a 0-1 loss to Rapid Vienna and go straight into a derby away to LASK!

LASK | 7th place - 20 points

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From one Linz club to the other. We have already seen, unfortunately, in the cup quarter-final that new signing Samuel Adeniran is a useful addition, with the American scoring the decisive goal with a header in extra-time. Markus Schopp has added several other new faces to his side: with Ismaila Coulibaly coming on a free transfer from Sheffield United into central midfield, Mohamed Sanogo doing likewise from First Vienna and two wingers joining on deadline day - Christoph Lang from SK Rapid Vienna and Krystof Danek from Sparta Prague (on loan).

New additions seem necessary with LASK just outside the championship group at present and with two key players leaving in Marin Ljubicic (to Union Berlin) and Maksym Talovierov (to Plymouth Argyle). Jörg Siebenhandl, Rene Renner, Tomas Galvez and Tomas Tavares all also left the club over the winter.

TSV Hartberg | 8th place - 20 points

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It isn't only Raphael Hofer (of our Red Bulls) who went to Hartberg over the break (on loan in his case) as Emmanuel Ojukwu has also joined from Wiener SC, Jed Drew from Australia and Muharem Huskovic (on loan) from Austria Vienna. Loans from Onurhan Babuscu, Aaron Sky Schwarz and Charlie Osborne have all been ended, however.

Manfred Schmid's side took a 1-1 draw in the preparation period against Ukrainian top-flight side Rukh Lviv, before a 2-0 win against SV Stripfing in the cup put them in the semi-finals. They resume the Bundesliga against WSG Tirol.

WSG Tirol | 9th place - 16 points

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The defence was boosted back in November by 24-year-old free agent Jonas David (previously at Hamburg). Striker Justin Forst has departed, however, for Voitsberg. It remains to be seen how a rather unspectacular winter converts into the spring. There was a 0-1 friendly defeat against NK Domzale in the preparation period - but that was followed by 3-0 and 2-0 wins against Schwaz and FAC.

We are hosting the Tyroleans next week in our first Bundesliga home match of 2025 on Saturday 15 February at 17:00 CET. Tickets are on open sale.

SK Austria Klagenfurt | 10th place - 15 points

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It was definitely one of the biggest transfers of the winter in Austria - Klagenfurt signing Martin Hinteregger! We will be able to see how our former centre-back gets on in his return to professional football at the weekend when we visit Klagenfurt. It was a busy window over there with Steven Juncaj, Aaron Sky Schwarz (loan), Denzel Owusu and Keanan Bennetts all coming in, while Min-young Lee went on loan to Viktoria Berlin.

Their preparation period saw a 3-2 win against their co-operation club in Berlin and a 2-1 success against SV Lafnitz.

GAK 1902 | 11th place - 12 points

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It will be exciting for us to see how Zeteny Jano gets on during his loan to the Graz outfit. They have tried to ward off relegation danger by signing Sadik Fofana, Florian Wiegele (on loan from Viktoria Pilsen) and Antonio Tikvic (on loan from Watford). There have been plenty of departures too with Michael Cheukoua, Gabriel Zirngast, Felix Holzhacker, Markus Rusek and Dennis Dressel leaving the club - who start with a huge six-pointer against SCR Altach! Clear friendly wins against Voitsberg (4-0) and Kapfenberg (4-1) give confidence.

SCR Altach | 12th place - 10 points

The team coached by Fabio Ingolitsch have tried to regather over the winter after falling to bottom in the table. Support in attack should come from new signing Marlon Mustapha (from Dusseldorf and Como), while striker Gustavo Santos has completed his dream of earning a transfer to Japan's second division. Further new signings came in the retuning Benedikt Zech in defence along with Schalke loan player Steve Noode. Alexander Gorgon came from Poland to boost the midfield and Florian Dietz was loaned from Cologne in attack.

Can that activity spark a turnaround? Their last friendly match against the Stuttgarter Kickers was won 3-2, whetting the appetite for a Bundesliga opener at home to WSG Tirol! We will visit Altach on Matchday 21 on Sunday 9 March.

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