Altach enters the Europa League in the first qualifying round, Sturm Graz in the second round, and Austria Wien in the third round. Salzburg enters in the second qualifying round for the Champions League. First and second round draws have been determined: Europa League 1st qualifying round (Jun 29 & Jul 6) Altach (AUT) v Chikhura Sachkhere (GEO) Europa League 2nd qualifying round (Jul 13 & 20) Altach (AUT)/Chikhura Sachkhere (GEO) v Dinamo Brest (BLR) Sturm Graz (AUT) v Mladost Podgorica (MNE)/Gandzasar-Kapan (ARM) Champions League 2nd qualifying round (Jul 11/12 & 18/19) Salzburg (AUT) v Hibernians (MLT)/FCI Tallinn (EST)
Altach is in good shape after a win in Georgia. Second leg is July 6. Chikhura Sachkhere 0 - 1 Altach
Altach 1 - 1 Chikhura Altach advances 2-1 on aggregate and will face Dinamo Brest of Belarus in the Europa League second qualifying round (Jul 13 & 20).
Sturm Graz will face Mladost Podgorica(MNE) - which won 4-0 over Gandzasar-Kapan (ARM) on the same July 13 and 20.
And in the Champions League, Salzburg will face Hibernians, which won 3-0 over Tallinn. Matches are July 11 in Malta and July 19 in Austria.
Europa League Altach 1 - 1 Dinamo Brest Sturm Graz 0 - 1 Mladost Podgorica Neither Austrian team fared well in the home leg.
3rd Round Draw: Champions League: Hibernians (MLT) or Salzburg (AUT) v Rijeka (CRO) or TNS (WAL) Europa League Sturm Graz (AUT) or Mladost Podgorica (MNE) v Fenerbahçe (TUR) Austria Wien (AUT) v Progrès Niederkorn (LUX) or AEL Limassol (CYP) Gent (BEL) v Altach (AUT) or Dinamo Brest (BLR) 2nd Round results: Rijeka (CRO) 2-0 TNS (WAL) Progrès Niederkorn (LUX) 0-1 AEL Limassol (CYP)
Champions League Salzburg 3 - 0 Hibernians The Maltese champions were no match for Salzburg. Rote Bullen won 6-0 on aggregate and now face Croatian champions Rijeka. The third round will be played July 25/26 and August 1/2.
Europa League Dinamo Brest 0 - 3 Altach Mladost Podgorica 0 - 3 Sturm Graz After failing to win the home legs, both Austrian teams earned convincing 3-0 away wins to advance to the third round. Altach and Sturm Graz will face formidable opponents Gent and Fenerbahçe, while Austria Wien enters the competition against AEL Limassol. Matches are July 27 and August 3.
Champions League Salzburg 1 - 1 Rijeka Not the result at home Salzburg wanted. Now they'll have to make up for it in the return leg on Aug 2.
Europa League Sturm Graz 1 - 2 Fenerbahce Gent 1 - 1 Altach Austria Wien 0 - 0 AEL Limassol The third round saw a tough result for Sturm Graz, losing at home. Altach can be happy with a tie and away goal in Belgium. Austria Wien didn't give up an away goal but also couldn't gain an advantage at home. Austria's second leg is on Aug 2, the other two play Aug 3.
Europa League AEL Limassol 1 - 2 Austria Wien Champions League Rijeka 0 - 0 Salzburg Salzburg couldn't score in Croatia and is eliminated from the Champions League on away goals. I suspect they definitely envisioned themselves going further in this competition. Austria Wien benefited from an early Limassol red card and got the result they needed to advance.
Europa League Fenerbahce 1 - 1 Sturm Graz Altach 3 - 1 Gent Sturm Graz had a chance to reverse their home loss. Though boasting a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal, in the end the draw saw Sturm on the wrong end of a 2-3 aggregate score. Altach took the lead, but Gent earned a PK to tie the match and the series at the half. But a sending off shortly after the break hurt Gent, and Altach was able to add two more goals to advance 4-2 on aggregate. So Austria Wien and Altach survive to the next Europa League round...
Austria Wien will host the second leg against NK Osijek of Croatia, which is an easy draw based on the coefficients. Altach will host the first leg against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Maccabi Tel Aviv's coefficient is the fourth worst of the 22 seeded clubs, but they have won all seven qualifying aggregates over the last two seasons with 12 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. They got 7 points in the 2016-2017 Group Stage.
Also, Salzburg now drops down the Europa League and will face Romanian champions Viitorul, another Champions League castoff that lost to APOEL of Cyprus. All three Romanian teams lost in the last Europa League round, so Viitorul will be the country's sole representative remaining in the competition. First match will be in Romania.
Altach will need an away win again after losing 0-1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv. The home club lost all three games with Austrian clubs. There was Viitorul 1-3 Salzburg and Osijek 1-2 Austria Vienna.
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-2 Altach (3-2 aggregate) Altach took the lead twice and would have advanced on away goals with a 2-1 win, but Maccabi Tel Aviv tied it in the 73rd minute. Salzburg 4-0 Viitorul (7-1 aggregate) Austria Vienna 0-1 Osijek (2-2 aggregate, Austria Vienna advanced on away goals 2-1)
These were interesting series, with the home team only winning 1/6 matches. Two were closer than expected. After losing at home, Altach had a second-half lead that would have seen them advance. But ten minutes later, they surrendered the tying goal. Also, Osijek made it more interesting than I would have thought after their 0-2 home loss. One more goal would have sent it into extra time. In the end, though, he clubs that won away in the first leg all advanced. Salzburg and Austria Wien will feature in the next round...
Europa League Groups: Group D: Milan, Austria Vienna, Rijeka, AEK Athens Group I: Salzburg, Marseille, Vitoria SC, Konyaspor
First Europa League group stage matches: Austria Wien 1 - 5 AC Milan Vitoria de Guimaraes 1 - 1 Salzburg AC Milan is the powerhouse in Group D, so a loss to them isn't devastating. But Austria must be concerned by the magnitude by which they lost at home. Salzburg earned a result in Portugal, which is helpful. In two weeks, Austria Wien travels to Athens, while Salzburg hosts Marseille.
The second Europa League match day was much better for the Austrian clubs: Athens 2 - 2 Austria Wien Salzburg 1 - 0 Marseille Austria was on track to earn three valuable points away but gave up the tying goal in the 90th minute. Still, a tie in Athens is a nice result. Salzburg now leads Group I with four points ahead of Konyaspor and Marseille with three points.
Europa League Austria Wien 1 - 3 Rijeka Konyaspor 0 - 2 Salzburg Austria lost its second straight home match, this time to Rijeka, the Croatian side that earlier eliminated Salzburg from the Champions League competition. The Viennese club now sits last in Group D with one point. Not looking good... It's a different story with Salzburg. After earning three points at Konyaspor, they're leading Group I with seven points, one better than Marseille. Next Europa League round is Nov 2.