Europa League, Qualification, Play-Offs, second leg, Thursday, 29.08.2024 at 21:00
Austria’s capital is holding its breath! Rapid have big plans and want to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League. To do so, however, they need to overturn a 2-1 deficit on Thursday.
Their opponents come from Portugal and are anything but easy. As a result, it’s no surprise that the Viennese are the underdogs. In my SK Rapid Braga betting tip, I reveal all the important details about this match and also explain why the BTS bet is close to my heart
Is an excellent start to the season going off the rails? Rapid Vienna got off to a great start this season, both in the Bundesliga and the European Cup. One thing is clear: the Rapid team is determined to make it into international business!
The Europa League adventure began in the 2nd round of qualifying against Wisla Krakow. 2:1 and 6:1, the team had no problems whatsoever in the final count and progressed easily
The next opponent: Trabzonspor. Things were a little tighter here, but overall the Greens proved to be extremely confident. 2:0 and 1:0, only very few would have thought that defensively nothing would go wrong.
6:1 and 2:0, the two home games showed in particular where Rapid’s strength lies. And so it could of course be quite unfavorable that the first match against Braga took place away from home and Vienna has a home game up its sleeve
The team lost 2:1 at the Portuguese side, Guido Burgstaller’s lead unfortunately not enough in the end. Nevertheless, it was a commendable result, because: Lukas Grgic was sent off with a red card in the fourth minute!
He will of course miss his team on Thursday, which weakens the midfield enormously. For Burgstaller, still well known from the German Bundesliga, it was already his fourth goal in the current competition
So I can’t help but recommend this goal bet. At Bet365, this bet would have odds of 3.25, but you can increase the risk with the 1:0 bet: the value skyrockets to 7.00!
How will Rapid deal with this defeat? Unfortunately, it’s not the first one, as there was another one in the league straight away. After two wins and a draw – only one goal conceded – the Hütteldorfer were surprisingly beaten 3-0 by Blau-Weiß Linz
Now you can ask yourself the following question: Could it be that the team simply wanted to concentrate on Europe and therefore dropped the game a little?
Of course, I can’t find an answer to that either, but such a prioritization would not be atypical. Let’s also take a look at the odds, both for the win and for progression.
2.90 to 2.30, as far as the win is concerned, our German bookmakers assume that Braga are more likely to win. If the only question is who will advance to the group stage, we get 3.80 to 1.20.
Sporting Braga know that they are the favorites and only need a draw to be able to celebrate. Against Petah Tikva in the 1st qualifying round, the Portuguese side progressed with a 7:0 goal difference, so the bar was not particularly high here.
Servette Geneva were a different proposition. The 0:0 in the first leg was followed by a 2:1, so it was very close. The last three games were incredibly close and could have gone either way
Defensively, Braga are naturally very strong. That’s no coincidence, as they’re also doing quite well in the league. 1:1 against Estrela, 1:0 against Boavista Porto and 3:1 against Moreirense – a successful start.
Only once, and this includes all international competitions, did the team fail to reach the play-offs, and that was after a narrow victory in the first leg! In 2013, they were eliminated against CS Pandurii, the 1:0 was not enough
Can Rapid Vienna really overturn the 2-1 defeat against Braga? The individual class of the Portuguese side should by no means be underestimated, and they also have a 2-1 lead. But: To hold a draw against this team for a long time, with ten players, that’s strong!
I therefore don’t believe that the Viennese are without a chance here. Admittedly, Braga are well positioned in defense, but Guido Burgstaller has already been able to overcome the back line once.
That’s why I’ve finally decided to consult a betting classic here, which suggests a lively game. And that is:
Both teams score!
