Only a catastrophic exploitation of opportunities had prevented an earlier decision. FC Vaduz from Liechtenstein awaits the team coached by Ferdinand Feldhofer in a duel for entry into the group phase. The club, which is active in the second Swiss league, surprisingly prevailed against Konyaspor with an overall score of 5:3 and will welcome Grün-Weiss for the first leg next Thursday. In the 4-2 second leg in Turkey, the Austrian Manuel Sutter was on the top scorer list.
Feldhofer put his trust in 18-year-old Nikolas Sattlberger in central midfield right from the start in what was probably his most important game to date as Rapid coach. Cheered on by 14,200 vociferous supporters, the Feldhofer team dominated the game from the start, and the Azeris, who defended quite well, didn’t come into their own at first.
The hosts repeatedly played dangerously into the last third and should have taken the lead after twelve minutes. Grüll ideally extended a through pass to the conspicuous Nicolas Kühn. The 22-year-old dropped a defender but shoved the ball just wide in a one-on-one with Neftci goalie Ivan Brkic.
Then the crossbar denied a green-white goal celebration twice over. First, captain Maximilian Hofmann headed the crossbar after a Schick corner, and Mamadou Mbodj cleared Sattlberger’s rebound header just before the line (27′). Shortly thereafter, an artful lob from Kühn landed on the aluminum (31st). The guests were now showing a bit of danger with counterattacks, but Rapid goalkeeper Niklas Hedl made two strong saves against Kenneth Saief, scorer in the first leg.
The redeeming goal didn’t want to succeed before the break whistle, Ante Bajic (14th) and Guido Burgstaller (33rd) had also found good opportunities. Even after the change of sides, the Feldhofer team was not lucky at first: again it was Kühn who miserably messed up a sitter from a brilliant position (48th). The still clearly superior Rapidler kept running, Grüll (56th) put a free kick from a good position just over.
Shortly thereafter, Yusuf Demir celebrated his comeback to great acclaim from the fans. And it was Demir, too, who let Saief escape in his first action and was able to thank error-free Hedl that his team didn’t fall behind. It took 66 minutes to salvation: a measured cross from Kühn converted Grüll directly from close range, Neftci goalie Brkic did not look good.
Then it was again Saief, who missed the big chance to equalize completely freely. On the other side, Grüll (78′) and Burgstaller (79′) had the preliminary decision on their feet. In addition to Demir, who made a positive impression with his pleasant dribbles, Roman Kerschbaum and Druijf, who were also recently injured, celebrated their debuts of the season.
In extra time, Neftci captain Emin Mahmudov sent the West Stadium into collective shock with a direct free-kick to the inside bar. After that, Burgstaller (106′) and Moritz Oswald (109′) missed further chances before the Rapid fans could celebrate again. Jonas Auer found Druijf’s head with a measured cross, and the ball found its way into the goal under Brkic.