austria league News
Rapid Vienna take their 32nd Austrian title
Rapid Vienna have won the Austrian Bundesliga on the penultimate day of the 2007/08 season thanks to a comfortable a 3-0 home win against Altach. Rapid's 32nd league title came at the expense of heavy pre-season favourites Salzburg who made sure of second place with a 2-0 win over Rapid's cross-town rivals Austria Vienna.
Rapid have earned a place in this season's UEFA Champions League qualifying competition while Salzburg and third-placed Austria Vienna will go into the opening UEFA Cup qualifying round. Here is a short summary of the 2007/08 Austrian Bundesliga campaign:
- Champions: Rapid (Champions League 2nd qualifying round)
- Runners-up: Salzburg (UEFA Cup)
- Third place: Austria Vienna (UEFA Cup)
- Fourth place: Sturm Graz (Intertoto Cup)
- Relegated: Wacker Innsbruck
- Promoted: Kapfenberg
Coach Peter Pacult has signed a one-year contract extension with Rapid. The 48-year-old has prolonged his stay at the Vienna club until the summer of 2009 after guiding them to the Austrian league title. Pacult took charge in September 2006 and Rapid also reached last season's UEFA Cup first round via the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Rapid Vienna captain Steffen Hofmann has been voted Austrian Bundesliga player of the 2007/08 season by the presidents, managers and coaches of the league. The 27-year-old German midfielder has scored 10 goals and provided 28 assists in 36 matches for the Austrian champions last term.
| teams | titles | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid | 32 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Austria Vienna | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Salzburg | 4 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Sturm Graz | 2 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| LASK Linz | 1 | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| Austria Karnten | - | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Mattersburg | - | 8 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| Ried | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Altach | - | - | - | - | 8 | 8 |
| Kapfenberg | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Salzburg appoint Adriaanse
Second-placed Salzburg have hired Co Adriaanse to succeed Giovanni Trapattoni as coach this season. The 60-year-old Dutchman would be taking over from former Italy manager Trapattoni, who has decided to take over as Republic of Ireland coach at the end of the domestic campaign. Adriaanse has coached Ajax, Porto, Zwolle, Den Haag, Ukrainian side Metalurg Donetsk. Most recently, he was fired as coach of Al-Sadd in Qatar in January.
| # | team | points | g.dif. | win-draw-loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rapid | 69 | 33 | 21-6-9 (36) |
| 2 | Salzburg | 63 | 21 | 18-9-9 (36) |
| 3 | Austria Vienna | 58 | 13 | 15-13-8 (36) |
| 4 | Sturm Graz | 56 | 19 | 15-11-10 (36) |
| 5 | Mattersburg | 53 | 12 | 13-14-9 (36) |
| 6 | LASK Linz | 53 | 7 | 14-11-11 (36) |
| 7 | Ried | 38 | -15 | 10-8-18 (36) |
| 8 | Altach | 36 | -27 | 8-12-16 (36) |
| 9 | Austria Karnten | 33 | -32 | 8-9-19 (36) |
| 10 | Wacker Innsbruck | 29 | -31 | 6-11-19 (36) |
This page contains additional information about the 2008/2009 Austrian Bundesliga season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Austria page.
Bet on Salzburg
According to bookmakers, Salzburg will be favorites to win the Austrian Bundesliga title this season.
| team | odds | team | odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Bull Salzburg | 1.4 | Rapid | 7.5 |
| Austria Vienna | 7.5 | LASK Linz | 14 |
| Sturm Graz | 18 | Mattersburg | 21 |
| Austria Karnten | 35 | Ried | 150 |
| Altach | 250 | Kapfenberg | 250 |
Austrian Cup finals in last five seasons
2004 GAK - Austria Vienna 3:3 (5:4 on penalties)
2005 Austria Vienna - Rapid 3:1
2006 Austria Vienna - Mattersburg 3:0
2007 Austria Vienna - Mattersburg 2:1
2008 No Austrian cup in 2007/08 season