Round 21 St. Pölten 0-4 Wolfsberger AC Sturm Graz 1-1 Austria Wien Rapid Wien 3-1 Mattersburg Wattens Tirol 1-1 Admira Mödling LASK 5-1 Hartberg Altach 3-2 RB Salzburg Salzburg dropped another 3 points behind LASK losing at Altach. With the draw in Tirol, the three teams at the bottom are tied on points. St. Pölten dropped to the bottom based on goal differential. The top half and bottom half are now set. Now Last Die Tabelle Sp G U V D Pt 1 1 LASK Linz 21 16 3 2 29 51 2 2 RB Salzburg 21 13 6 2 46 45 3 3 Rapid Wien 21 11 6 4 21 39 4 4 Wolfsberger 21 11 4 6 23 37 5 5 Sturm Graz 21 9 5 7 11 32 6 6 TSV Hartberg 21 8 5 8 -11 29 7 7 Austria Wien 21 5 9 7 -3 24 8 8 SCR Altach 21 7 3 11 -8 24 9 9 Mattersburg 21 5 3 13 -25 18 10 11 Admira Mödling 21 3 7 11 -23 16 11 12 Wattens Tirol 21 4 4 13 -27 16 12 10 St. Pölten 21 3 7 11 -33 16
Catching up before the split and COVID break, Round 22 completed the first part of the season on March 7/8. Only movement in the table is that Admira and Tirol managed to climb over Mattersburg. Round 22 Admira Mödling 2 - 0 Altach Austria Wien 0 - 0 St. Pölten Hartberg 0 - 3 Wattens Tirol Wolfsberger AC 2 - 2 Rapid Wien Salzburg 2 - 0 Sturm Graz Mattersburg 0 - 1 LASK
So the Bundesliga entered the second phase of the season featuring the top half in the Championship Group and the bottom half in the Relegation Group. Points are divided by two and carried over into the second phase. LASK finished Round 22 in first place with an impressive six-point lead over Salzburg. During the COVID break, however, LASK was caught holding illegal training sessions when teams were not yet allowed to get together. As a result, LASK was assessed a six-point penalty--after the split. So instead of a three-point lead, LASK then trailed Salzburg by three points at the start of the Championship phase. Austria Wien held a slight lead over Altach in the Relegation Group. St. Pölten was last. Round 23 Championship LASK 1 - 2 Hartberg Sturm Graz 1 - 2 Wolfsberger AC Salzburg 2 - 0 Rapid Wien Relegation Mattersburg 1 - 1 Altach Wattens Tirol 0 - 5 St. Pölten Austria Wien 1 - 0 Admira Mödling LASK suffered a home defeat, and Salzburg extended the lead atop the table. Wolfsberger AC actually moved into second a point ahead of LASK. And in the relegation battle, St. Pölten got a huge 5-0 away win to climb off the bottom and into third place in the Relegation Group. Tirol is now last, behind Mödling on goal difference.
Two more rounds in the Bundesliga completed. Salzburg continues their hot form since the break, winning twice on the road by a combined 10 goals. The lead is now 7 points atop the table. Rapid also won twice to move into second. LASK continues to slide, now in fourth place. Altach moved ahead of Austria to lead the Relegation Group. And Admira was briefly in last but moved off the bottom thanks to an away win at St. Pölten. Tirol is back to last place. Round 24 Championship Hartberg 0 - 6 Salzburg Wolfsberger AC 3 - 3 LASK Rapid Wien 4 - 0 Sturm Graz Relegation Admira Mödling 0 - 2 Mattersburg Altach 1 - 1 Wattens Tirol St. Pölten 1 - 1 Austria Wien Round 25 Championship LASK 0 - 1 Rapid Wien Wolfsberger AC 2 - 4 Hartberg Sturm Graz 1 - 5 Salzburg Relegation St. Pölten 0 - 3 Admira Mödling Wattens Tirol 1 - 1 Mattersburg Austria Wien 0 - 2 Altach
Three more rounds in the Bundesliga resulted in very little change atop the Championship Group. Salzburg earned 5 points, while both Rapid and LASK earned 6 points. Successive draws with Salzburg were impressive, but only two points earned dropped Wolfsberger AC to fourth place and mathematically out of title contention. With four rounds remaining, Rapid at 6 points behind Salzburg (and facing an insurmountable goal difference) has the only real shot at dethroning the Red Bulls. Thanks to three straight wins, Austria Wien has regained the lead and established a three-point advantage over Altach in the Relegration Group. The other four are all in danger of ending up in the relegation spot. Round 26 Championship Rapid Wien 2 - 1 Wolfsberger AC Hartberg 1 - 2 Sturm Graz Salzburg 3 - 1 LASK Relegation Admira Mödling 0 - 3 Wattens Tirol Altach 2 - 0 St. Pölten Mattersburg 1 - 4 Austria Wien Round 27 Championship Hartberg 0 - 1 Rapid Wien Wolfsberger AC 0 - 0 Salzburg LASK 4 - 0 Sturm Graz Relegation Admira Mödling 1 - 1 Altach St. Pölten 1 - 0 Mattersburg Austria Wien 1 - 0 Wattens Tirol Round 28 Championship Salzburg 2 - 2 Wolfsberger AC Rapid Wien 0 - 1 Hartberg Sturm Graz 0 - 2 LASK Relegation Altach 1 - 1 Admira Mödling Mattersburg 2 - 0 St. Pölten Wattens Tirol 1 - 2 Austria Wien
Probably Rapid's only chance at the title was to earn three points at home to Salzburg. Instead, the Red Bulls laid down an emphatic 7-2 beating on the Rekordmeister. With three rounds to go, the lead is now 8 points over LASK with a +31 better goal difference. Salzburg has the title in the bag. In the Relegation Group, Austria earned the only win to increase the lead to 5 points. Admira dropped into the relegation spot, but the bottom four teams are only separated by 4 points. Round 29 Championship Hartberg 1 - 5 LASK Wolfsberger AC 2 - 0 Sturm Graz Rapid Wien 2 - 7 Salzburg Relegation Admira Mödling 0 - 2 Austria Wien Altach 1 - 1 Mattersburg St. Pölten 1 - 1 Wattens Tirol
Congrats to Salzburg for winning a 7th consecutive Austrian Bundesliga title! A convincing win over Hartberg meant that the race has been decided with two rounds remaining. Rapid won and LASK lost, so those two clubs switched places behind Salzburg again. Earlier, LASK's penalty was reduced from 6 to 4 points, and they were still appealing that number. But as it stands, even if LASK's penalty is completely eliminated, their 11-point deficit on Salzburg cannot be closed. At the relegation end, Admira Mödling earned an important win at Mattersburg to send Tirol back to the bottom and trailing by two points. Round 30 Championship Salzburg 3 - 0 Hartberg LASK 0 - 1 Wolfsberger AC Sturm Graz 2 - 3 Rapid Wien Relegation Austria Wien 2 - 5 St. Pölten Mattersburg 1 - 2 Admira Mödling Wattens Tirol 0 - 1 Altach
Salzburg's win over Sturm ensures that the Graz club will finish last in the Championship Group and out of contention for a spot in Europe. Rapid beat LASK to wrap up the Vizemeister title, barring a successful appeal by LASK of its point deduction. Wolfsberger AC still has a chance to pass LASK for the third-place Europa League spot. They need to win at home to Rapid and hope LASK doesn't do the same at home to Salzburg in the final round. Admira suffered a crushing home defeat to St. Pölten. Tirol also lost to retain the relegation spot, but their destiny is in their hands. Tirol plays home to Admira and can secure their Bundesliga spot with a win. That match will decide relegation. Round 30 Championship Salzburg 5 - 2 Sturm Graz Rapid Wien 3 - 1 LASK Hartberg 3 - 3 Wolfsberger AC Relegation Admira Mödling 0 - 3 St. Pölten Altach 1 - 2 Austria Wien Mattersburg 4 - 1 Wattens Tirol
The big match of the final Bundesliga round was between the two bottom-dwellers of the Relegation Group. With a win at home to Admira, Tirol could avoid relegation. Several amazing chances were squandered by Tirol, but in the end, they just couldn't get the goal they needed. It seems like every year Admira is right on the edge of relegation yet manages to avoid it. So again this season. Tirol will be moving down to the Erste Liga. Austria and Altach finished atop the Relegation Group and will now feature in a playoff as part of the process to determine the final Europa League spot. The winner will play Hartberg, which finished fifth in the Championship Group. Salzburg and Rapid earned the Champions League qualification spots. Wolfsberger AC will be in the Europa League, and LASK fell all the way down to the Europa League qualification spot in fourth. Round 32 Championship LASK 0 - 3 Salzburg Sturm Graz 1 - 4 Hartberg Wolfsberger AC 3 - 1 Rapid Wien Relegation Wattens Tirol 0 - 0 Admira Mödling Austria Wien 1 - 0 Mattersburg St. Pölten 2 - 0 Altach
Europa League Playoff Austria Wien 1 - 0 Altach Austria defeated Altach and will now face Hartberg in a two-match series on July 11 & 15 to determine the final Europa League spot.
Europa League Playoff Austria Wien 2 - 3 Hartberg Hartberg 0 - 0 Austria Wien Hartberg earned the final Europa League spot in a playoff with Austria Wien.
Both Ried and Austria Klagenfurt were tied on points atop the Erste Liga going into the final round. They won 9-0 and 6-1 respectively, which gave Ried the title on goal difference (+5 better). So Ried will be promoted back to the Bundesliga after three seasons in the second division. Ried won the Austrian Cup in 2011 and then lost the final to Red Bull Salzburg the following year, the first of seven Cup titles for Salzburg.