Hofleitner, however, had no understanding for the complaints of some Lustenau players, who claimed he had been too aggressive with his opponent Matthias Maak in an aerial duel: "There was nothing at all, it's always the same. He simply lost the header."
"Welcome to the Bundesliga, that's just how it is."
Lustenau coach Markus Mader paid tribute to the Graz team's performance: "We are disappointed with the result. However, I think the win for GAK is fair, because they were better than us in the decisive moments."
Mader primarily referred to his team's lack of offensive punch: "Especially when creating chances, we produced very little, whether from open play or set pieces. The opponent was simply more mature and exploited that ruthlessly."
After his second promotion with Lustenau's Austria to the country's top division, Mader is well aware of these initial difficulties. "Welcome to the Bundesliga, that's just how it is," the coach joked in a "Sky" interview, despite his disappointment over the defeat. And continued: "It's simply about finding our feet in the league."
"Even the best teams concede from set pieces"
Domenik Schierl, a reliable first-choice goalkeeper for Austria Lustenau for years, rightly blames himself not for the defeat. "We knew that Hofleitner is tall and strong in the air," the custodian recounted from the match preparation.
But "you can always concede from a set piece, even the best teams do," Schierl quickly dismissed the two GAK goals.
Ironically, debut goal-scorer Dion Kacuri also criticized Austria's offense: "As in the last game, we do a lot of things well, but in the final third, we're still missing a bit of that killer instinct to actually hit the net."
Goalkeeper Schierl echoed this sentiment: "We also had some set pieces, but GAK just utilized theirs. That's why they won."
