Rapid Wien – Athletic Bilbao

The Allianz Stadion in Wien will host the game between Rapid Wien and Athletic Bilbao in the last round of the group stage of Europa League.

 Rapid are without any chance to progress in the next phase of the tournament, while Athletic are already qualified for the 1/16-finals. The question now is if they can finish first in the group, taking the leading spot from Genk. In the same time Genk are playing against Sassuolo away from home.

 The Spanish team won the first game between the two sides, scoring just once, but not conceding for the 1-0 win at the San Mames Barria. Athletic won its last two Europa League games – against Sassuolo and Genk, so now they will try to continue this tendency of winning and take the first place in the group.

 Rapid Wien on the other hand started well in the Europa League group stage, winning its first game, but after that the Austrian team didn’t win neither one of its next four matches. Something which left them out of the competition as well.

 Athletic are performing well in the Spanish La Liga since the start of the new season. Ernesto Valverde’s team is currently 7th in the standings, but just two points away from Atletico Madrid and the fourth spot, which guarantees Champions League football next season. The Basques won its last game during the weekend – against Eibar at home, so they will travel to Wien in a good mood.

 Rapid Wien are not enjoying a season of greatness in the Austrian Bundesliga so far. They are currently placed in the middle of the table, falling 12 points behind the current leader Sturm Graz. The club’s ambitions are surely higher than this, so we could say that the season is not going well for Rapid so far.