TM interview
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With 37 points after 15 games, Grazer AK is better than ever since being promoted back to the 2nd league in 2019: The Styrians went into the winter break eight points ahead of their pursuers SV Ried. Before the start of spring, Transfermarkt spoke to one of the players responsible for this performance: Yannick Oberleitner. The German came to the Styrian capital in the summer from the LASK Amateurs and now spoke about his training at Bayern Munich and Augsburg, his move to the Alpine republic and his first steps as a professional at GAK.
The central defender began his career at home at SpVgg Unterhaching. From there in 2017 he dared to make the jump to the U16 team at FC Bayern Munich, where things went well at the beginning and Oberleitner was a regular player. “If you get an offer from Bayern, you almost have to do that,” he said about the move at the time. But as quickly as it came, the high came to an end: “Since I played a little less, I became impatient – and then an offer came from FC Augsburg.” Nevertheless, he summed up his time at Bayern very positively: “I have very much taken away. I had Danny Schwarz as a coach, who I really valued, and I was also able to take a lot from Miroslav Klose later on, even though I wasn’t used as much under him.”
In January 2019, Oberleitner joined the Fuggerstadt team and made it into the regional league team in 2020, and he was also allowed to train with the professionals from time to time. After the 2020/21 season was canceled due to Corona, he then missed almost the entire 2021/22 season: a torn ligament in his ankle forced him to watch, “an unfortunately recurring thing,” said Oberleitner about the injury. In total he was only used four times for the Augsburg reserves.
Oberleitner’s move to Austria: “Wanted to get away from familiar surroundings”
“After this difficult time, I wanted to get away from the familiar environment and try something new.” As a result, the Munich native asked his agent to go looking for a club in Austria. “I am very connected to the country, my father also played there.” [Anm: Markus Oberleitner spielte zwischen 2001 und 2003 für den FC Kärnten in der Bundesliga] After trial training with a few clubs, Oberleitner finally joined the LASK amateurs in the summer of 2022, as he could also train there with the Bundesliga professionals. The change paid off: In the Central Regional League, the defensive man scored five goals in 24 appearances, and the LASK amateurs ultimately narrowly missed out on promotion to the second division as runners-up. “In the end, it’s a shame that it wasn’t nearly enough, but there’s nothing we can do about that.”
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In the summer of 2023, Oberleitner made the jump to the 2nd league. Grazer AK, who had dramatically blown promotion to the Bundesliga against FC Dornbirn shortly before, came knocking. “It was a change, but not a big one. I was already used to a lot from training with the professionals in Augsburg and at LASK. But playing in front of 3,000 people still made a difference.” In the autumn season he was primarily used as a joker, and the defender played a total of eleven competitive games for the Graz team.
But one game will remain unforgettable for Oberleitner: In his second starting eleven, he was able to prove himself in the ÖFB Cup in the round of 16 against Sturm Graz in November. “A crazy game for me.” The 21-year-old scored “twice” in that game: first he gave the Reds a 2-1 lead, then he scored an own goal to equalize for Sturm, which was later added Should win 2:3. “You got goosebumps when you were running in, but I was able to ignore it during the game. After the first goal I felt pure happiness, but then on the other hand the own goal was the same in a negative sense, I can’t even describe it.”
Finally, he summarized the Graz autumn season as follows: “We as a team played a great autumn season. For me personally, it was okay not to always play from the beginning – that’s part of it. I look forward to every further appearance and will do my best to contribute to the team’s success.” Graz’s goal for the spring is clear: “Promotion to the Bundesliga.”
Interview by Dorian Schuster
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