Football: Opponents of Rapid Vienna in the Conference League are set

Football champion Sturm Graz and runner-up Salzburg have drawn highly attractive opponents in the league phase of the Europa League. The Styrians will face, among others, Feyenoord, Nottingham, Red Star Belgrade with Marko Arnautovic, and the two Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers. The Bulls must compete against Porto, Aston Villa, and Freiburg. Rapid will play in the Conference League against Fiorentina and must travel to Poland twice. This was the result of the draw on Friday in Monaco.

Familiar Opponents for Sturm and Salzburg

Sturm, drawn from pot 3, will face Glasgow Rangers, Red Star Belgrade, Nottingham Forest, and Brann Bergen at home. Away trips are scheduled to Feyenoord in Rotterdam, Celtic in Scotland, Midtjylland in Denmark, and Panathinaikos in Athens. Against Feyenoord and Midtjylland, the Graz team is certainly out for revenge. In Rotterdam, there was a 0:6 defeat in the EL group stage in 2022, and in the same year, a bitter 0:2 away defeat against Midtjylland prevented advancement to the knockout phase.

"I believe we have very strong, but also very attractive opponents," said coach Jürgen Säumel about Sturm's tasks with some "fan potential." "If you look at the market values, all opponents, except for Brann Bergen, are above us - but we have already shown in the past that we can always play a good role, especially at home in front of our own fans."

The Salzburg team, drawn from pool 1, also encountered difficult opponents. The domestic league giant will play at home against Porto, Ferencvaros Budapest, Basel, and the Go Ahead Eagles from the Netherlands. Away, Premier League representative Aston Villa, Olympique Lyon, SC Freiburg, and Bologna await. "I think we have drawn exciting and challenging opponents. I see Porto and Aston Villa as particularly strong, who I consider among the title contenders," said coach Thomas Letsch. Captain Mads Bidstrup spoke of "absolutely strong opponents" with plenty of quality.

The eight opponents, two from each of the four pots, were randomly determined by software, as was the case with the league phase introduction last year. "Draw fairy" Jürgen Klinsmann was allowed to press the trigger button several times. The first matchday in the Europa League is on September 24/25.

Rapid hosts Fiorentina in Conference League

Rapid will face Fiorentina at home, two years ago the Green-Whites narrowly failed against the Serie A club in the play-off for the Conference League. "Fiorentina is certainly an exciting draw, a very attractive opponent and great for the fans. We have good memories at home," said Rapid sports director Markus Katzer, recalling the 1-0 win in the first leg at that time. The other opponents for the Hütteldorf team are more manageable, with home games still to come against the Cypriot WAC conqueror Omonia Nicosia and Universitatea Craiova from Romania. Coach Peter Stöger's team also has to travel to Poland twice to face Lech Poznań and Raków Częstochowa, and also to Bosnia and Herzegovina to play Zrinjski Mostar.

"These are tough tasks. Maybe not the big names, but if we handle it properly, we can certainly take points," said Stöger, speaking of a tough group. "Overall, we are happy," said Katzer, speaking of opponents against whom "we can collect points again and maybe advance." The two away games in Poland are not an easy task. With Omonia, Rapid still has a score to settle, as last December they suffered a 1-3 defeat in the Conference League group phase in Cyprus. "We want to turn that around this year," announced captain Matthias Seidl. The first round will be played on October 2.

The best eight teams go directly to the round of 16, the teams ranked nine to 24 play a play-off for the round of 16, and the other twelve clubs are eliminated. In the Europa League, eight rounds are scheduled, while in the Conference League, unlike in the two highest European club competitions, only six games are played. The final of the Conference League will take place on May 27, 2026, in Leipzig, and the final of the Europa League will be held a week earlier at the Besiktas Park in Istanbul.

(APA/Red)

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