Djurgarden – Rapid Vienna

The Swedish club will be closer to victory in their own arena

The Conference League, with its arrival on the European football scene, has allowed clubs from Sweden, Poland, Austria and Cyprus to reach decent play-off stages, which was almost unbelievable during the "reign" of the two tournaments - the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. Jurgården finished fourth in their not-so-strong national championship in 2024 and now their potential participation in the 2025/2026 European Cup season depends on other clubs playing in the Swedish Cup final. However the Stockholm side could well prove even more potent in the current draw. Vienna Rapid are in fourth or fifth position in the Austrian league for the fourth year in a row. The level of this team is quite obvious, in the meeting with Djurgården it can not be called dominant. Bookmakers have identified the visitors as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.58 on their victory. Jurgården have performed very well in the overall stage of the Conference League. Often to the detriment of Allsvenskan matches, the Stockholm team scored about 70% of possible points and took the final fifth place. After missing out on the knockout rounds, Djurgården lost their first game to Paphos in Cyprus in the 1/8 finals. In the return leg, the Swedish team performed much better, scoring three unanswered goals against the islanders. In the first quarter of this year, Djurgården failed in the Swedish Cup, failing to get out of the group in the play-offs. At the end of March, the capital club lost the opening match of the new Swedish championship to Malmo, but managed to recover last weekend with an away win over Sirius. Rapid passed the general stage at the same level as the upcoming opponent. The Viennese team picked up a similar number of points, winning four times and drawing once in six games. Having gained the right to play in the 1/8 finals, the Austrians exchanged draws with Borac Banja Luka and finished off their opponents only in the extra time of the return leg. On the national scene at the end of March, Rapid started the second stage of the championship. The start was dubious - defeats with the same score 0:2 from Salzburg and Sturm. Rapid have nothing that would make them favourites for the meeting in Stockholm.