Europe is here again! Another very exciting European autumn is approaching for our team. The reward for last season's strong campaign is at least six games in the group stage of the upgraded UEFA Europa League. We start on Thursday, in Vienna. It will then be exactly 938 days since we played our last match in this tournament, at home against Slavia Prague. The Czechs eliminated us back then in the round of 16. Some players remain with us from back then: Bryan Heynen, Jhon Lucumí and Junya Ito.
In the UEFA Europa League group stage four times, group winner four times
The Europa League is upon us. It really seems to be tailor-made for us. Whereas in 2009 and 2010 we lost in the play-offs, we have since been very successful in the tournament. In the 2012/13 campaign, we topped our group featuring Sporting Lisbon, Basel and Videoton. Points: 3 wins and 3 draws, that makes 12 out of 18. A year later, we did even better: 14 out of 18. The opponents were Dynamo Kiev, FC Thun and Rapid Vienna. The Austrians were in our group again three years later, with Athletic Bilbao and Sassuolo. It did not prevent Genk from finishing top again, with 12 points. Then we burst on through to the quarter-finals. Three years ago, Besiktas, Malmö and Sarpsborg could not keep us from winning the group either. 11 points out of 18 was enough.
Rapid Vienna, ein Wiedersehen
The green and whites from the Austrian capital have been our opponents in the Europa League group stage twice before. We drew twice in the autumn of 2013. In Vienna – then still at the Ernst Happel Stadium – it was 2-2. Kara Mbodj scored from the spot, Thomas Buffel scored the other Genk goal. On 15 September 2016, Leon Bailey put us 0-1 ahead, but Rapid managed to turn the match around. Bailey hit the target late on from the spot, but Genk lost 3-2 that night in Rapid's brand-new and cosy stadium. Our current captain Bryan Heynen was also in the starting line-up back then.
Rapid is the most successful club in Austrian football history, but their last national title was back in 2008. Since then, the club has come second no less than seven times. The mighty Red Bull Salzburg have been champions ten times in the same period. Now an unequal battle.
The total market value of the current squad is around EUR 35 million. The team hasn't started the competition too well. Last Saturday, Rapid lost at home to Admira Wacker from Innsbruck (1-2). It was already their third defeat in seven matches. Coach Dietmar Kühbauer's team is only ninth in the league table, with 8 points out of 21. The gap to leaders Salzburg is already 13 points. The most valuable player in their current squad is centre-back Ercan Kara (25), valued at €3.5 million by Transfermarkt, and good for 3 goals in the Europa League qualifiers. Rapid had to first get past Anorthosis Famagusta from Cyprus and then Zorja Luhansk from Ukraine in the qualifying rounds. Earlier it had fallen in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, against Sparta Prague. At home against Sparta, there were 19,500 spectators.
Another fact from Rapid Vienna's history: it is the only Austrian club that ever became champions ... in Germany. This happened during the occupation, in 1941. They beat Schalke 04 in the final, in front of 100,000 spectators. Ten minutes before time, Rapid was 3-0 down, but still won, 3-4.
Heading to Vienna with a squad of 23
After a free day on Monday, the Genkies trained one last time on Belgian soil this morning before travelling to Austria. Everyone fit, everyone available: things couldn't be more ideal, before starting our 17th European campaign. Rapid will be our 115th European match. Apart from Andras Nemeth – last night's goalscorer for the U23s against Cercle (3-1) – and Jay-Dee Geussens, the entire 1st team squad is travelling. In Europe, the squad consists of 23 players each time. We have added Mujaid Sadick, Simen Juklerød and Joseph Paintsil to last Sunday's 20 against Union.
The Genk delegation will fly from Liège to Vienna at around 10:30. Arrival there is planned for around noon. At 18:15 there will be the press conference with our coach and one of our players. The team will train at the stadium at 19:00.
