Naturns defense chief Daniele De Simone wants to reach the quarter-finals of the national cup with his team. © det

The Naturns recipe for staying in the league

The round of 16 games of the state cup take place on Wednesday evening. All eyes are on Ahrntal, where the home team welcomes Oberliga team Naturns. In addition, two other teams from the top regional league have difficult away games ahead of them.

March 12, 2024

From: mv

Ahrntal against Naturns – this duel sounds melancholic. While the Lower Vinschgers had prevailed last year after a 3-1 win in the playoff against Benacense, second in the table in the Trentino regional league, and thus completed promotion to the upper league ( here Go to the report), Teldra have been one of the best teams in the national league for years - but it wasn't enough to get promoted.

This year too, the Ahrntalers have had a solid season so far, are in midfield in the state league table with 7th place and have nothing to do with relegation. Although there was one at the weekend 0:3 home defeat against surprise team Latsch (3rd), but you should never write off the Großgasteiger team, as Naturns coach Patrick Fliri also knows. “Ahrntal is a strong team, we shouldn’t underestimate them. “Unfortunately we are missing a few regulars on Wednesday, but we still want to return home with a win – also because the journey is a long one,” said Fliri in an interview SportNews.

Patrick Fliri has been on the sidelines for his hometown club Naturns since this season (Photo: Sarah Mitterer)

“I’m very happy with my team’s second half of the season so far,” said Fliri about the situation in the championship. Naturns is currently in 13th place, just one point ahead of a direct relegation zone. “As is unfortunately often the case, in the second half of the season all the teams at the back suddenly all start scoring regularly, which makes everything even trickier. But we can also keep up quite well.”

“I am convinced that we can stay in the league if we continue as before.” Patrick Fliri, coach of SSV Naturns

After the cup game, the home game against league leaders St. Pauls awaits on Sunday. “They are definitely the big favorites, that’s out of the question. But we still have to and want to try to get points and play our game,” says Fliri, explaining the direction. After a weekend without games, Naturns has two important games against Dro and Stegen - in between there is the home game against Levico. “It is important that we win the direct duels against the other relegation candidates. If we manage to do that, I am convinced that we can stay in the league,” says Fliri at the end of the conversation.

Bozner FC and St. Georgen are also still in the cup

In addition to the top game, two other major league teams are in action on Wednesday. The Bolzano FC guest at state league club Gitschberg Jochtal. Paolo Goisis' team is also currently in a relegation battle in the league, but has recently been able to free itself a little thanks to the 2-0 win at Stegen - at least for the time being. But be careful: the Pusterers are a bit of a fright as favorites, as they already shot Bruneck (2:0) and Obermais (6:4 after penalties) out of the national cup this year.

And the Kalterer footballers are also expecting a top league team at home. St. George comes to the Überetscher wine village. Coach Gianluca Cecere's team has established itself in the middle of the table after a weak start to the season, most recently breaking their winning streak of seven games in a row with a 1-1 draw against the team of the hour, St. Pauls. Kaltern, on the other hand, lost 0-2 against SC Passeier at the weekend. Nevertheless, in fourth place, only five points behind league leaders Gargazon, they are still fully in the race for promotion. And the Decristofaro team also made people sit up and take notice in the national cup with their 4-3 win against Voran Leifers.

Will the Gitschberg players also celebrate in the state cup on Wednesday? © David Laner

Six of eight round of 1 games take place on Wednesday evening. Haslach already set an exclamation mark last week. The city club knocked regional league team Terlan out of the cup with a 0-20 home win. The last round of 1 game will take place next Wednesday, March XNUMXth. In a pure XNUMX.Amateurliga B duel, table leader Natz welcomes Albeins, who were relegated from last year's regional league, at home.

State Cup, all round of 16 games

Wednesday March 6th

Haslach – Terlan 1-0
Goal: Marcolini (68th)

Wednesday March 13th
Ahrntal – Naturns (20 p.m.)
Gitschberg Jochtal – Bozner FC
Kaltern – St. Georgen
Jenesien – Olimpia Merano
Sesto – Ridnaun Valley selection
Neugries – Latsch (20.45 p.m.)

Wednesday March 20th
Natz – Albeins (20 p.m.)