Rapid Vienna lost play-off dress rehearsal against Red Bull Salzburg

Red Bull Salzburg bid farewell to the Bundesliga in the last round with a 4-2 (3-1) home victory over Rapid, securing second place. Oscar Gloukh (8th), Dorgeles Nene (11th, 56th), and Edmund Baidoo (24th) ensured a deserved success, which at least put a conciliatory end to a botched year. For Rapid, which had already secured fifth place, the dress rehearsal for the European Cup play-off against LASK or Hartberg went awry.

Green-White, which could only shorten the lead through Andrija Radulovic (19th) and Guido Burgstaller (63rd), wanted to stay in the flow after two consecutive victories, but despite a good performance, they cannot carry this into the duels with the play-off semi-final winner on May 29 (home) and June 1 (away).

Salzburg Secured Second Place

The Bulls, in turn, did their part at the end of their second consecutive titleless season to jump to second place and the associated qualification for the Champions League. And the competition played along. Since Austria only managed a 2-2 draw against the straggler Blau-Weiß Linz, they at least have the chance for the seventh consecutive participation in the Champions League. However, they must enter the 2nd CL qualifying round on July 22/23.

Salzburg changed its starting eleven in four positions. As full-backs, Tim Trummer and John Mellberg replaced Leandro Morgalla and the injured Aleksa Terzic, while in attack, Edmund Baidoo/Petar Ratkov replaced Yorbe Vertessen/Karim Onisiwo. At Rapid, Dion Beljo replaced Moritz Oswald and Romeo Amane replaced Isak Jansson in the squad.

Early Double Strike

Salzburg crowned a dominant start with an early 1-0 by Gloukh, who skillfully curled the ball into the far corner from ten meters after a pass from Ratkov. Less than four minutes later, the Bulls perfected the dream start. After a combination with Ratkov, Nene increased the lead to 2-0 - once again, the offensively positioned guests were caught cold in the counter-movement by the hosts.

The pressure on Grün-Weiß eased a bit, the Hütteldorfer moved forward - and also received some assistance. Joane Gadou served a cross unfortunately to Radulovic, who turned and scored the connecting goal from close range. However, the Bulls heeded the warning and immediately shifted up a gear again. They restored the old distance after a quickly executed attack thanks to passive Rapid defense through Edmund Baidoo.

K.O. Blow for Rapid

Before the break, Ratkov missed after good work against two Rapid defenders (36.), on the other side Nikolaus Wurmbrand tested Salzburg goalie Alexander Schlager (28.), Guido Burgstaller hit the side netting from a tight angle (41.). Even after the restart, it remained entertaining and fast-paced. First, Mads Bidstrup missed a good opportunity (48./wide), shortly after, Schlager and then Edmund Baidoo cleared on the line against Radulovic and Burgstaller.

Rapid was well in the game, but conceded the K.O. blow on the counter. Nene underlined the efficiency of Thomas Letsch's team and with his 13th goal of the season came dangerously close to the top scorer of 2024/25, Ronivaldo (14). The 2:4 by a Burgstaller hammer from a few meters was indeed well-deserved, but could not turn the game around. Salzburg brought the victory home confidently, and in the finish, 19-year-old defender Jannik Schuster, son of former ski jumper and current coach Werner Schuster, made his Bundesliga debut.

Relief After the Final Whistle

The great relief for a large part of the total 13,052 spectators only set in after the final whistle - when the announcement of Austria's 2:2 echoed through the loudspeakers.

(APA/Red)

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