Premiere Start at Allianz Stadium
The encounter between Rapid and Sturm in the first championship round has occurred several times in the past, a total of seven times. However, five times the match
took place in Graz, and two times in Hütteldorf. On July 11, 2001, Rapid won 3:1 at the Hanappi Stadium, but at the end of the season, the Green-Whites were only in 8th place.
The last Bundesliga opener in Hütteldorf against Sturm Graz took place on July 13, 2005, when Rapid, as the defending champion, lost 2:3. In 2009, the season was also supposed to start with the duel between Rapid and Sturm, but since Rapid hosted FC Liverpool at the sold-out Ernst Happel Stadium as part of the celebrations for the club’s 110th anniversary (and won 1:0), the championship match was postponed.
In the Allianz Stadium, Rapid has opened the season six times since the reconstruction in 2016, but never against Sturm Graz. The last opening match was a 1:0 victory in Hütteldorf against SV Ried on July 24, 2022.
Home Record Must Improve
What definitely needs to improve for Rapid in the new season is the mixed home record. In the 2023/24 season, the Green-Whites won only four out of 16 home championship games – just 25%. There has never been a worse home record in the 112 championship seasons so far. In the history of the Bundesliga, Rapid had never recorded fewer than seven home wins until then.
Nevertheless, the Hütteldorfer achieved an average attendance of over 18,500, by far the highest in the league. In the new season, the consistently large audience is expected to have more reasons to celebrate – perhaps right from the first game against the champion.
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League Opening Matches Against Sturm Graz
August 19, 1967: Sturm – Rapid 2:5 / Goals: Huberts (38.), Peintinger (75.); Grausam (5.), Bjerregaard (20, 35.), Fritsch (29., 45.)
August 14, 1981: Sturm – Rapid 4:2 / Goals: Pichler (23.), Jurtin (35.), Breber (51., E), Bakota (61.); Panenka (19., FS), Krauss (22.)
July 31, 1993: Sturm – Rapid 1:0 / Goal: Wetl (49.)
July 11, 2001: Rapid – Sturm 3:1 / Goals: Taument (52.), Wallner (57., FS), Neukirchner (65., ET); Feldhofer (44.)
July 10, 2002: Sturm – Rapid 0:4 / Goals: Sobotzik (22.), Ivanschitz (72., 78.), Schießwald (87.)
July 13, 2005: Rapid – Sturm 2:3 / Goals: Kincl (57., 87.); Mujiri (18.), Silvestre (69.), Tsimba (78.)
July 8, 2008: Sturm – Rapid 3:1 / Goals: Sonnleitner (33.), Haas (45.), Stankovic (72.); Dober (49.)