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It is seldom the case that Austrian football clubs enter the group stage of the football Champions League. This has been the case eight times since the premiere in 1991, including the current season. 29 years after the founding of the Champions League, RB Salzburg today (9pm CET) against Atlético de Madrid have the chance to become the second Austrian club after Sturm Graz in 2000 to survive this phase of groups in the real competition of European club football.
“It’s time to win against a first-rate opponent. We have learned a lot in the last eleven games,” said Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch, hardly having to calculate. With a win you are firmly on top, with a draw or a loss, you play third in the Europa League, unless Lok Moscow beat FC Bayern in a side game.
Atlético are known for their defensive strength (they conceded two goals in ten league games). In the Champions League, however, there are already five goals against, two of them against Salzburg. Marsch: “You are strong, you won’t allow much. But we will have our chances.”
2000: Pepi Schicklgruber and Tomislav Kocijan after the 2-0 victory over Glasgow. Image: gepa
20 years after SK Sturm
And this promotion would be worth significantly more than that of SK Sturm Graz in 2000. At that time there were still two group stages in one season. In the first, the Styrians were drawn by opponents who could be beaten with Galatasaray, Glasgow Rangers and Monaco. And although it was 0: 5 away to Glasgow and Monaco, President Hannes Kartnig was able to celebrate the group’s victory at the end. The second phase, in which you then faced Manchester United, Valencia and Panathinaikos Athens, was the end of the line. Austrian Pepi Schicklgruber, who shared the goals with Kazimierz Sidorczuk, was there at the time. “It was an unforgettable moment. At home, we would have had a chance against all the best European clubs on a good day.”
The rest of the national Champions League group stage appearances were quite sobering. Salzburg’s third place in the preseason (against Liverpool, Napoli and Genk) remained a highlight. Sturm also finished third in 1999 against Manchester United, Marseille and Zagreb. Rapid (1996, 2005), Sturm (1998) and Austria (2013) were each at the bottom of the group and accumulated a total of four points in 24 games.
European Cup of National Champions
The European Champions League, which was held until 1991, was not comparable to the Champions League. Typically, the competition was played with 32 teams. After one round you were already in the round of 16. National clubs reached the semi-finals twice: Rapid was eliminated in 1961 by Benfica Lisbon (3-0, 1-1) after having eliminated Besiktas from Istanbul, Chemnitz and Malmö. Austria failed in 1979 after beating Shkodra, Lilleström and Dresden in Malmö FF (0: 0, 0: 1). (bean)
1979: Austrias Aus against Malmö (OÖN) Image: OÖN
