UEL Qualification Round 2 Draw

Football fans of the continent are fully focused on UEFA EURO 2024, where former Rapidler Mert Müldür scored a wonder goal for Turkey, Marco Grüll (who departs Rapid for Werder Bremen) Niklas Hedl, Leopold Querfeld (also departing for Union Berlin) and Matthias Seidl are involved in the Austria squad, and our new signing Bendegúz Bolla has been in action for Hungary.

However, the focus of UEFA is also on the European qualifying rounds for the start of next season, and the draw at their HQ in Nyon on Wednesday, has shown Rapid the first step on the path towards the group stages.

The draw pitted SK Rapid against the winner of the tie between KF Llapi of Kosovo, and Wisla Krakow of Poland. The first leg will be on the 25th of July at the home of either the Polish cup winner or in Kosovo, and the return fixture is in Hütteldorf on the 1st of August. Potential alternative dates are on either the Tuesday or the Wednesdays before, but the dates will be finalised in the coming weeks!

Head Coach Robert Klauß was of course eagerly anticipating the draw, and he gave his reaction: “As the Polish Cup winners, Wisla Krakow are the favourites to get through, but we will analyse both teams equally, and we will be on site to observe the games between the two sides. It's impossible for me to make a serious sporting assessment of either team so soon after the draw, but I did get a rough idea of Wisla after their sensational victory in the cup final. It's a club with a long history, and the incredible cup win has certainly given them a big boost. No matter who our opponents are, our goal is of course to advance to the third qualifying round."

Rapid met Polish opposition in the European qualifying stages two years ago, when the Green & Whites came out on top after a goalless draw at the Allianz Stadium and a 2-1 away win against Lechia Gdansk. Next season, Wisla Krakow will play in the second tier for the third successive year; the 13-time Polish champions last appeared on the European stage in 2011/12, when they reached the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.

KF Llapi finished as runners-up in Kosovo’s Superliga to make it through to the European qualifying phase.