The 2018 Austrian Cup final was played on 9 May 2018 between SK Sturm Graz and FC Red Bull Salzburg at Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, a neutral ground. The final was the culmination of the 2017–18 Austrian Cup, the 84th season of the Austrian Cup.
Sturm Graz won their fifth cup title after defeating Red Bull Salzburg 1–0 after extra time, which would have earned them a place in the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, but they instead qualified for the UEFA Champions League by virtue of their second place finish in the 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga.
Teams TeamPrevious finals appearances (bold indicates winners)SK Sturm Graz9 (1948, 1974–75, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2010, 2018)FC Red Bull Salzburg10 (1974, 1980, 1981, 2000, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
Venue
Wörthersee Stadion is the home of SK Austria Klagenfurt and opened in 2007. It has a capacity of 32,000 spectators and is part of Sportpark Klagenfurt.
Background The Austrian Bundesliga clubs SK Sturm Graz and FC Red Bull Salzburg contested the final, with the winner earning a place in the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League. Since Sturm Graz qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League by virtue of its second place finish in the 2017–18 Austrian Bundesliga, Austria's last European place is given to FC Admira Wacker Mödling as the 5th place team of the 2017-18 Austrian Bundesliga.
Sturm Graz competed in its ninth overall final, their first since 2010. Red Bull Salzburg made its fifth straight finals appearance (sixth in seven seasons and its 10th overall. Both clubs now have five total Austrian Cup championships. The two teams had never previously met in an Austrian Cup final, and Red Bull Salzburg won three of the four meetings during the regular season of the 2017-18 Austrian Football Bundesliga, outscoring Sturm Graz 13-5 over those four contests.
Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). SK Sturm GrazRoundFC Red Bull SalzburgOpponentResultOpponentResultFC Hard3–0 (A)First roundDeutschlandsberger7–0 (A)FC Liefering3–2 (A)Second roundBruck/Leitha2–1 (A)SC Rheindorf Altach4–1 (H)Third roundBad Gleichenberg3–0 (A)Wimpassing3–0 (H)Quarter-finalsSK Austria Klagenfurt7–0 (H)SK Rapid Wien3–2 (H)Semi-finalsSV Mattersburg0–0 (H)
Match Details
GK 27 Jörg SiebenhandlDF 26 Fabian Koch DF 19 Marvin Potzmann DF 23 Lukas SpendlhoferDF 35 Dario MaresicMF 25 Stefan Hierländer MF 17 Peter Žulj MF 29 Thorsten Röcher MF 6 James Jeggo FW 9 Deni Alar FW 20 Bright Edomwonyi Substitutes:GK 32 Tobias SchützenauerDF 4 Thomas SchrammelDF 5 Christian Schoissengeyr MF 8 Sandi Lovrić MF 13 Jakob Jantscher MF 18 Philipp Huspek DF 20 Christian SchulzManager: Heiko Vogel GK 1 Cican Stankovic DF 25 Patrick FarkasDF 22 Stefan LainerDF 15 André Ramalho DF 5 Duje Ćaleta-Car MF 7 Reinhold Yabo MF 14 Valon Berisha (c) MF 42 Xaver SchlagerDF 8 Diadie SamassékouFW 21 Fredrik Gulbrandsen FW 9 Mu'nas Dabbur Substitutes:GK 33 Alexander WalkeMF 4 Amadou Haidara DF 6 Jérôme Onguéné MF 13 Hannes Wolf FW 18 Takumi MinaminoFW 19 Hwang Hee-chan MF 24 Christoph LeitgebManager: Marco Rose
Assistant referees: Andreas Heidenreich Maximilian Kolbitsch
Fourth official: Gerhard GrobelnikMatch rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Seven named substitutes, of which up to four may be used
References