Who are Shamrock Rovers’ UEFA Conference League opponents Rapid Wien?

Two of the seven unbeaten teams in the UEFA Conference League go head-to-head in Vienna on Thursday night when Rapid Wien host Shamrock Rovers on match day four (kick-off 8pm Irish time).

So who are Rapid Wien?

The Hoops will take on the record winning 32 time Austrian champions Rapid Vienna (SK Rapid Wien). The Viennese team was founded 125 years ago and won their first title in 1911-12 and their most recent Bundesliga title came in 2008.

They finished fourth in the league last year and currently sit second in the Austrian Bundesliga with 27 points from 14 games. They are five points behind league leaders Sturm Graz and are level on points with cross city rivals Austria Wien.

Rapidler are unbeaten in the league since the end of August and that match (a 3-0 away defeat to BW Linz) is their only loss.

What European pedigree do they have?

Die Grün-Weißen have twice reached the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, in 1984-85 and 1995-96, losing on both occasions, to Everton and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.

This season they have lost just the one game of the nine they have played in Europe.

They entered Europe in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. They beat Wisla Krakow home and away (8-2 on agg) and Trabzonspor home and away (3-0 on agg). 

Rapid lost to Braga in the play-off (4-3 on aggregate) to drop straight into the UEFA Conference League where they are unbeaten:

MD1: İstanbul Başakşehir (2-1 away)

MD2: FC Noah (1-0 home)

MD3: Petrocub Hîncești (3-0)

How did they do in Europe last season?

They were knocked out of Europe before the group stages last year losing in the Europa Conference League play-off last season 2-1 on aggregate to Fiorentina.

Where do they play?

Since 2016 Rapid’s home ground has been the 28,500 capacity Allianz Stadion.

Who is their manager?

Robert Klauß is the Head Coach. The German has been in charge since November 2023 having joined from Nürnberg. Prior to that he coached the RB Leipzig second team where he was a player.

Have the two sides met before?

The teams played each other last 60 years ago. extratime.com took a look back at the match – with a controversial refereeing performance in the first leg – in this long read:

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— extratime.com (@extratime.com) 24 November 2024 at 12:46

More recently Rapid played Dundalk in the 2020 Europa League. The Lilywhites lost 3-1 at home and 4-3 away in the two group stage matches.

Who to watch out for?

Croatian striker Dion Beljo has seven league goals to put him third in the top scorer table. No player has taken more shots than the 22-year-old player in the Bundesliga in Austria and he has the most touches in the penalty area.

Rapid like to swing the crosses into the box. They have Jonas Auer topping the league’s crossing stats with Hungarian international Bendeguz Bolla third.

Defensive stability is provided by the duo of Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and Serbian Nenad Cvetkovic.

What formation do they play? 

This season 4-4-2 is their preferred set up with this formation used 84% of the time. 

Any other assorted stats?

On average they have 56% possession in each game this season and taking 14.7 shots per match.

How can I watch the match?

The game is live on Premier Sports 1 in Ireland and on TNT in the UK.

How many teams qualify from the league stage?

Of the 36 teams in the league stage, 24 teams will advance into the knockout stages in February 2025. Teams one to eight get a bye and go directly into the round of 16, while ninth to 24^th will go into a series of two legged matches to earn the right to go to the last 16. Teams 25 to 36 will be eliminated.

Rapid sit fourth in the table while Rovers are seventh after match day three.

What point total is required to qualify?

Seven points minimum from the six games would most likely put a team in 24th position or better (80% projection)

How much prize money has Rovers banked?

Rovers’ earnings are now over the €4.8m mark for this European campaign.