After a bumpy start, Austria got into the game better against Slovenia. We want to draw the right conclusions for the match in Norway.

For the first time, Austria failed to win a competitive game against Slovenia. After two wins, it was the first draw against the neighbors in the first Nations League game. And it wasn't just the pitch in Laibach that was bumpy, the ÖFB team's start was too: they overslept the first 20 minutes, said central defender Maximilian Wöber, and had problems with the pressing. The game against the ball otherwise characterizes his team, but this time it didn't come into its own, at least at the beginning. “After that we fought back well. We dominated in the remaining 70 minutes, but we weren't dangerous or clean enough.” A point in Slovenia no longer corresponds to the increased demands that the national team now has, said Wöber.

But Slovenia has also improved in quality. It wasn't just Benjamin Šeško who was a source of trouble, constantly putting pressure on Austria's defensive lines. The Leipzig legionnaire's national team demonstrated the class they have won, not least at the recent European Championships in Germany. That should also be taken into account, said Ralf Rangnick: At the European Championships, the round of 16, who were only eliminated on penalties against Portugal, never lost in regular time and did not concede a single goal from the game. And so the team boss of the Austrian team was overall satisfied with what he saw in Laibach: “That was a difficult game in adverse conditions. The pitch was uneven and the fact that we fell behind due to a controversial hand penalty didn’t make it any easier,” said Rangnick.