Football: Dečić Tuzi First Task for Rapid Vienna Under Stöger

In Tuzi, a small suburb of Podgorica, Peter Stöger will make his competitive debut as the coach of SK Rapid. The Hütteldorf team will visit on Thursday (9:00 PM) in the first leg of the second qualifying round for the UEFA Europa Conference League against the Montenegrin cup winner Dečić Tuzi and aims to lay the foundation for advancement with a victory. The return leg will take place next Thursday in Vienna, and the winner will face Dundee United or UNA Strassen in the 3rd qualifying round.

Rapid against Dečić Tuzi without Raux-Yao and Sangaré

After three wins and one draw in the preparatory matches, things get serious on Thursday. "I am very excited that it is really starting now," said Stöger. Rapid enters the Tuško Polje stadium, which holds only 1,000 spectators, as the favorite and hopes for a similarly confident start to the season as last year, when the first European hurdle Wisla Krakow was overcome with 2:1 and 6:1. "We have carefully analyzed our opponent and also observed them on-site. If we exploit our potential, we will live up to our role as favorites, and of course, we want to start the season with a successful match," explained Stöger.

The coach must do without defender Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and midfielder Mamadou Sangaré in the two matches against the Montenegrin champion of 2024, who prevailed in the first qualifying round against Sileks Kratovo from North Macedonia with an aggregate score of 3:2. The two key players were sent off in the Conference League quarterfinal against Djurgården and were suspended for two games, thus only being available again in the third round.

Stöger could rely on Horn, Mbuyi, and Antiste

Rapid traveled on Wednesday with 23 players, and among the new arrivals, full-back Jannes Horn and the French striker duo Claude Mbuyi and Janis Antiste are likely to be in the starting lineup.

(APA/Red)

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