Austrian Bundesliga 2020/2021 season preview Football
Salzburg claim seventh successive Austrian title
Red Bull Salzburg claimed a seventh successive Austrian league title and 14th overall with two rounds of games to play last term. Their efforts were boosted when previous league leaders LASK Linz were deducted points. Linz led at the end of the regular season, when the 12 teams meet twice, but then had six points deducted, later reduced to four on appeal, for breaking coronavirus regulations. The squad was filmed staging full training sessions during a period when the pandemic rules restricted them to training in small groups. Linz won only three out of eight games in the final stage, which features the top six teams. Austria's league restarted in June after being suspended during the country's COVID-19 lockdown.
- Champions and Cup winners: Salzburg (Champions League QR4)
- Runners-up: Rapid (Champions League QR2)
- Third place: Wolfsberger (UEFA Europa League GS)
- Fourth place: LASK (UEFA Europa League QR3)
- Fifth place: Hartberg (UEFA Europa League QR2)
- Relegated: Mattersburg
- Promoted: Ried
Mattersburg withdrew from the Bundesliga after 17 seasons due to filing for insolvency, sparing WSG Tirol from relegation. Ried was promoted as champions of the 2019/20 Austrian Football Second League after having been relegated from the Bundesliga at the end of the 2016/17 season.
| Team | Titles | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid | 32 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| Austria V. | 24 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Salzburg | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Admira | 8 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 11 |
| Sturm Graz | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Wolfsberger | - | 6 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| Altach | - | 8 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 8 |
| LASK Linz | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| St. Polten | - | - | - | 10 | 6 | 9 |
| Hartberg | - | - | - | - | 9 | 5 |
| Ried | - | 7 | 12 | - | - | - |
| Tirol | - | - | - | - | - | 12 |
The table shows the overall number of titles for each club in Austrian Bundesliga since 1911/12 and their league standings in the last five seasons.
Stoger becomes new Austria Vienna coach
Peter Stoger will again take over the reins of Austria Vienna. The 54-year-old, a former coach of Koln and Borussia Dortmund, will remain as sports director and will act as general manager in the 2020/21 season based on the English model. After coach Christian Ilzer surprisingly canceled his contract in July, Stoger decided to "take over this position for a year in this difficult phase". Stoger emphasized that the current budgetary situation, the uncertain environment caused by the corona pandemic and the structure of the club had influenced the decision-making process.
This page contains additional information about the 2020/2021 Austrian Bundesliga season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Austria page.
LASK appoint Thalhammer as new boss
After the surprising departure of Valerien Ismael, Linz quickly appointed Dominik Thalhammer as their new coach. For the 49-year-old it's a return to the club, he already worked as an assistant to Karl Daxbacher in 2007/2008. Among other jobs, Thalhammer led the women's national team as team boss into the European Championship semi-final in 2017. At LASK, Thalhammer also takes the role of sports director.
| Team | Pts | GD | W-D-L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship round | ||||
| 1 | Salzburg | 50 | 76 | 22-8-2 |
| 2 | Rapid | 38 | 21 | 17-7-8 |
| 3 | Wolfsberg | 35 | 26 | 15-9-8 |
| 4 | LASK | 33 | 30 | 20-4-8 |
| 5 | Hartberg | 27 | -22 | 12-6-14 |
| 6 | Sturm | 19 | -14 | 10-5-17 |
| Relegation round | ||||
| 1 | Austria V. | 34 | 2 | 12-11-9 |
| 2 | Altach | 26 | -8 | 10-8-14 |
| 3 | St. Polten | 25 | -26 | 8-10-14 |
| 4 | Matters. | 21 | -25 | 8-6-18 |
| 5 | Admira | 18 | -28 | 6-10-16 |
| 6 | Wattens | 16 | -32 | 6-8-18 |
Austrian Bundesliga standings for the 2019/2020 season.
Salzburg aims eight title
Salzburg have dominated the Austrian Bundesliga since Red Bull took over the club in 2005 and their aim for this season is clear: eight title in a row. The bookmakers think they have, by far, the best odds to win the Austrian Bundesliga this campaign.
| Team | Odds | Team | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salzburg | 1.14 | Hartberg | 51 |
| Rapid Vienna | 13 | Admira Wacker Modling | 251 |
| Lask Linz | 17 | Altach | 251 |
| Sturm Graz | 23 | St. Polten | 301 |
| Austria Vienna | 29 | Ried | 501 |
| Wolfsberger | 41 | Tirol | 501 |
Preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2020/21 Austrian Bundesliga.
Austrian Cup finals in last five seasons
2020 Salzburg - Austria Lustenau 5:0
2019 Salzburg - Rapid Wien 2:0
2018 Sturm - Salzburg 1:0 (aet)
2017 Salzburg - Rapid 2:1
2016 Salzburg - Admira 5:0
Key players
(transfer market value in m€)
Admira Wacker Modling
Goalkeeper Andreas Leitner (0.6); Defense: Emanuel Aiwu (2), Leonardo Lukacevic (0.5), Lukas Malicsek (0.4), Christoph Schosswendter (0.3); Midfield: Morten Hjulmand (0.8), Roman Kerschbaum (0.5), Wilhelm Vorsager (0.4), Tomislav Tomic (0.3); Forward: Erwin Hoffer (0.2), Stefan Maierhofer (0.1).
Austria Vienna
Goalkeeper Patrick Pentz (1.5); Defense: Erik Palmer-Brown (1), Markus Suttner (0.8), Stephan Zwierschitz (0.6); Midfield: Dominik Fitz (1.5), Manprit Sarkaria (1), Benedikt Pichler (0.8), Patrick Wimmer (0.8), Alexander Grunwald (0.8); Forward: Christoph Monschein (1.6), Alon Turgeman (0.7).
Hartberg
Goalkeeper Rene Swete (0.4); Defense: Felix Luckeneder (0.6), Michael Huber (0.4), Christian Klem (0.4), Tobias Kainz (0.4); Midfield: Rajko Rep (0.8), Samson Tijani (0.5), Michael John Lema (0.5), Lukas Ried (0.4); Forward: Dario Tadic (0.8), Borna Petrovic (0.3).
LASK
Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager (4.5); Defense: Gernot Trauner (3), Philipp Wiesinger (2), Petar Filipovic (1), Marvin Potzmann (1); Midfield: Peter Michorl (3), Thomas Goiginger (2.8), Mads Emil Madsen (1.5), Reinhold Ranftl (1.5); Forward: Marko Raguz (2), Mamoudou Karamoko (0.4).
Rapid Vienna
Goalkeeper Richard Strebinger (2); Defense: Maximilian Ullmann (2.5), Filip Stojkovic (2), Mateo Barac (1); Midfield: Dejan Ljubicic (3), Thomas Murg (2.5), Philipp Schobesberger (1), Thorsten Schick (1), Christoph Knasmullner (1); Forward: Taxiarchis Fountas (3), Koya Kitagawa (1).
Red Bull Salzburg
Goalkeeper Cican Stankovic (2.5); Defense: Maximilian Wober (9), Jerome Onguene (5); Midfield: Oumar Solet (4.5), Dominik Szoboszlai (25), Enock Mwepu (10), Noah Okafor (9), Antoine Bernede (5.4); Forward: Patson Daka (20), Karim Adeyemi (9), Sekou Koita (6).
Rheindorf Altach
Goalkeeper Martin Kobras (0.4); Defense: Emir Karic (0.7), Philipp Schmiedl (0.4), Jan Zwischenbrugger (0.4), Anderson (0.4); Midfield: Samuel Oum Gouet (1), Manfred Fischer (0.6), Johannes Tartarotti (0.5), Marco Meilinger (0.4); Forward: Daniel Nussbaumer (0.4), Chinedu Obasi (0.4).
Ried
Goalkeeper Samuel Sahin-Radlinger (0.3); Defense: Luca Meisl (0.8), Kennedy Boateng (0.4), Constantin Reiner (0.4), Manuel Kerhe (0.3); Midfield: Marco Grull (0.6), Stefan Nutz (0.5), Markus Lackner (0.4), Marcel Ziegl (0.4); Forward: Bernd Gschweidl (0.3), Canillas (0.2).
St. Polten
Goalkeeper Christoph Riegler (0.6); Defense: Luan (0.6), Ahmet Muhamedbegovic (0.4), Kofi Schulz (0.4); Midfield: Robert Ljubicic (1), Peter Pokorny (0.7), Nicolas Meister (0.5), Christoph Halper (0.4), Daniel Luxbacher (0.4); Forward: Dor Hugi (0.4), Alexander Schmidt (0.4).
Sturm Graz
Goalkeeper Jorg Siebenhandl (0.8); Defense: Jon Gorenc-Stankovic (1.2), Gregory Wuthrich (0.8), Lukas Spendlhofer (0.6), Sandro Ingolitsch (0.6); Midfield: Otar Kiteishvili (2), Ivan Ljubic (1), Stefan Hierlander (0.8), Andreas Kuen (0.7); Forward: Bekim Balaj (0.8), Emeka Eze (0.6).
Tirol
Goalkeeper Ferdinand Oswald (0.3); Defense: Stefan Hager (0.4), Bruno Soares (0.4), David Gugganig (0.3), Fabian Koch (0.3); Midfield: Florian Rieder (0.4), Zan Rogelj (0.4), Benjamin Pranter (0.4), Tobias Anselm (0.3); Forward: Kelvin Yeboah (0.4), Zlatko Dedic (0.3).
Wolfsberger
Goalkeeper Alexander Kofler (0.4); Defense: Michael Novak (0.8), Dominik Baumgartner (0.7), Guram Giorbelidze (0.4); Midfield: Mario Leitgeb (0.6), Eliel Peretz (0.6), Michael Liendl (0.6); Forward: Dejan Joveljic (3.6), Dario Vizinger (0.9), Marc Andre Schmerbock (0.6), Cheikhou Dieng (0.5).