The Viennese club hopes its Europa League campaign can keep spirits high, after a mixed start to the league season
SK Rapid Vienna compete in the Australian Bundesliga and is the most important club in the country. Founded in 1897, under the name ‘Erster Wiener Arbeiter-Fußball-Club’ (First Viennese Workers’ Football Club), the Viennese side adopted their current denomination and the green and white colours two years later, on 8th January 1899.
This important Austrian outfit lived its golden era during the first third of the 20th Century. Rapid Vienna were one of the dominant forces in an era where central European national teams had a hegemony over football. After Austria’s annexation to Nazi Germany in 1938, Rapid Vienna joined the football system of the Third Reich, winning the German league and cup.
Rapid Vienna is the most decorated side in Austria. In its history, it has 32 domestic titles, a German league title, 14 Austrian cups, one German cup, six Mitropa cups – a predecessor to the European Cup – and four Intertoto Cups. The Viennese side’s main rivals are FK Austria Vienna. Both clubs provided footballers to the ‘Wunderteam’, the nickname given to the fantastic Austria national team of the 30s.
The stats suggest a slight advantage for Villarreal
El Villarreal CF se ha enfrentado hasta en tres ocasiones al SK Rapid Viena, todas ellas en UEFA Europa League. El Submarino se midió al equipo austríaco por primera vez en la fase de grupos de la temporada 2015-16, cayendo a domicilio por 2-1 y venciendo en el Estadio de la Cerámica por 1-0.
Villarreal CF have faced SK Rapid Vienna three times, all of them in the UEFA Europa League. The Submarine faced the Austrian team for the first time in the group stage in the 2015/16 season, losing 2-1 away and winning 1-0 at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
This season, both teams met once more in the third matchday of the group stages. The Yellows came away with a convincing 5-0 victory, which helped them move joint-top of the group. Villarreal will hope to get their second ever victory on Austrian soil this Thursday, after beating RB Salzburg 2-1 away from home in the 2014/15 season, a second-leg match that was in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League. The Yellows progressed 3-1 on aggregate.
New ideas to correct the current run
SK Rapid Vienna are not in the best time in their history. The green and whites won the league for the last time more than ten years ago (2007/08) in a competition dominated by RB Salzburg, who now have five consecutive league wins.
Furthermore, the season has not started as the Viennese side would have wanted. Their bad start to the campaign saw coach Goran Djuricin leave and Dietmar Kühbauer arrive. They are 19 points off the top of the table and are relying on European campaign to get their season back on track and give the fans something to cheer about.
Además, la temporada no ha empezado según lo previsto para el combinado vienés. Su mal inicio liguero, que propició el cese del técnico Goran Djuricin y la llegada de Dietmar Kühbauer, le ha alejado rápidamente de los puestos de privilegio. A 19 puntos del liderato, el conjunto austríaco se encomienda a la competición europea para corregir el rumbo y sembrar ilusión entre su hinchada.
Weststadion, a modern ‘theatre’, on the West of Vienna
SK Rapid Vienna plays at home in the new, spectacular Allianz Stadion, known as Weststadion in European competition for commercial reasons. Opened in 2016, the Viennese ground is modern and has a capacity of 28,000. Previously, they played their matches at the Gerhard Hannappi Stadium, which was demolished to build their new coliseum.
