Lokomotiva Zagreb hosts Rapid Vienna in the quarterfinals of the Champions League qualification. The match will be played on Wednesday, August 26th at Stadion u Kranjčevićevoj ulici (Zagreb)
Lokomotiva Zagreb took the second place in the Croatian championship in a relatively sensational way, having outranked Rijeka and Split Hajduk at the end. The team does not have any famous players, but builds its game through order and organization in defense. Unlike Rapid Vienna, Lokomotiva has already started the new season in Croatia. Tomic's team lost to Dynamo Zagreb in the derby (0-6), but then Lokomotiva beat Rijeka at home (1-0) without any advantage in terms of the game. The Croatian club knows how to squeeze the maximum out of the minimum, and it will play defense first even at home.
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Rapid Vienna is a more experienced team in terms of European Cups. It finished second in the last season of the Austrian Bundesliga, having outranked LASK and Wolfsberger. Kuhbauer's men build their game from the attack and often play unbalanced football, which is in favor of Lokomotiva. Moreover, the team has not held official matches for more than a month. Rapid Vienna showed a very good game in four preseason matches and scored 19 goals, but the opponents had a much weaker level, so Rapid's game in friendly games should not be taken seriously.
The teams haven't played against each other yet. I will bet on “Lokomotiva to win with a +0.5 handicap” due to several factors. Firstly, they are better prepared physically. Without having some kind of stellar squad, they can withstand the attacking onslaught and show a good game in counterattacks. Secondly, Rapid often plays recklessly in defense, and Zagreb residents can punish an opponent for that due to a more organized and balanced game at home. Therefore, the hosts should not lose in regulation time.
Prediction for the match: Lokomotiva Zagreb to win with +0.5 handicap
