How 40-Year-Old Robert Klauß Tactics Guided Rapid Wien To Europa Conference League Quarter Final – Tactical Analysis

After a stoppage-time equaliser in last weeks first leg in Banja Luka, Thursdays return fixture at the Allianz Stadion in Vienna, Austria, saw Rapid Wien stage a 2-1 comeback victory at home to advance to the last 16 of the UEFA Conference League.

Sandi Ogrinec gave Mladen Žižovićs FK Borac Banja Luka shock lead midway through the second half, which lasted only four minutes before Dion Drena Beljos leveler from the edge of the penalty area.

In the end, Louis Schaub netted the winning goal early in extra time to send Rapid through to what will be their first appearance in a European quarterfinal since their run to the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final in 1995/96, where they eventually lost to Paris Saint-Germain.

This tactical analysis will examine some of the keys behind Rapids victory in the second leg, which ultimately ended the fairytale run of their opponents from Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Rapid Wien Vs Borac Banja Luka Lineups & Formations

Rapid Wien set out in their usual 4-4-2 shape under Robert Klauß, with two changes to the team from the first leg.

Niklas Hedl was in goal, and Bendegúz Bolla, Nenad Cvetković, Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao, and Moritz Oswald, who came in for Jonas Auer at left back, formed the back four in front of him.

Lukas Grgić partnered Mamadou Sangaré in central midfield, with Louis Schaub and Isak Jansson, the other change for Andrija Radulović at left wing, either side of the pair to make up the teams second line of four.

At the same time, Dion Drena Beljo and Nikolaus Wurmbrand led the attack up front.

Similarly, Borac made two changes to the starting eleven of the reigning champions of Bosnia & Herzegovina from the first leg.

The side featured eight foreigners and just three domestic players.

Filip Manojlović was in between the sticks, with Viktor Rogan switching to his natural right-back role to make way for Sebastián Herrera at left-back, which meant Zoran Kvržić was dropped to the bench.

In contrast, Bart Meijers and Jurich Carolina made up their center-back pairing.

Captain Srdjan Grahovac, who played nearly 200 games for Rapid in two different stints with the club between 2014 and 2022, returned to the lineup after shaking off an injury to marshal the central midfield alongside Sandi Ogrinec in place of Boban Nikolov.

Stefan Savić occupied a central attacking midfield role with a pair of 21-year-old wingers on either side of him in Enver Kulašin and David Vuković.

At the same time, veteran striker Djordje Despotović remained up front on his own.

Rapid Wiens Missed Chances

Rapid missed at least two or three guilt-edged opportunities in the first leg, which eventually cost them.

Instead of walking away with a multiple-goal lead, they only had a draw to show for their efforts in Bosnia.

The chances of a repeat of that seemed unlikely going in, but unfortunately for Rapid, it proved to be another frustrating night in front of goal.

They could have gotten off to the perfect start in the very first minute when Wurmbrand broke down the right and delivered a cross to Beljo, whose shot from point-blank range was somehow saved by Manojlović before Schaub managed to hit the crossbar on the rebound.

All of which happened in just the first 30 seconds, and set the tone for the rest of the night for the home side.

A few minutes past the half-hour mark, they rattled the woodwork again, this time with Isak Jansson finding space away from the Borac markers and hitting a thunderous strike, which came crashing back off the crossbar.

After hitting the goal frame for a third tim