Austria Vienna made it three wins from as many games in the play-offs by beating Wolfsberger AC 2-1 away from home in the second leg of the final (5-1 on aggregate). Djuricin hammered home emphatically from the penalty spot – he now has more Bundesliga goals against Wolfsberg than against any other club (five) – only for Joveljic to hit back and draw WAC level around 70 seconds later. Leitgeb was given a straight red card before the break for a nasty challenge on Wimmer. The winner came when substitute Monschein rifled home his sixth goal of the season in the dying minutes.
The play-off triumph caps a remarkable end-of-season turnaround for the Stöger’s men, who were comfortably beaten 5-3 by the Carinthians in the Bundesliga only a couple of months ago. They can now look forward to European football next season and will enter the brand-new UEFA Europa Conference League in the second qualifying round. The draw will take place on 16 June, with the qualifier itself to be played across two legs on 22 and 29 July.
Among the possible opponents are Apollon Limassol of Cyprus, who eliminated the Violets from the Europa League qualifiers the last time they were represented in continental competition in 2019/20. There will be a new sporting leadership in place by the time the qualifier rolls around: the outgoing Stöger, who has served as head coach and sporting director, will be replaced by his long-term assistant Manfred Schmid as head coach, with Manuel Ortlechner, the captain of Austria Vienna’s last title-winning team in 2013, taking over as the sporting director.