Austria aim to end barren run

Although this will be the first meeting between the clubs in UEFA club competitions, FK Austria Wien have enjoyed a notable success against a Spanish club.

Notable scalp
In the 1982/83 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, FK Austria played holders FC Barcelona. The first leg at Vienna was drawn 0-0, but the Austrians then took a surprise lead in the return leg at the Camp Nou through Gerhard Steinkogler after 37 minutes, and managed to survive for a famous victory with a 1-1 draw. Austria moved into the semi-finals where they lost 5-3 on aggregate to Real Madrid CF.

Winless to date
But the Austrians will need to break a tradition if they are to win their opening group game against Real Zaragoza. In ten previous games against Spanish clubs in UEFA club competitions, FK Austria have yet to win a game. Four matches have ended in draws and six games have been lost, with a goals difference of 8-20. However the Spanish opposition has been of top quality with two ties each against Real Madrid CF (1974/75 and 1982/83 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups) and FC Barcelona (1993/94 UEFA Champions League qualifier) following the first meeting for Austria in the 1970/71 European Champion Clubs' Cup with Club Atlético de Madrid.

Maiden voyage
For Real Zaragoza, this will also be their first meeting with an Austrian club in UEFA club competitions. Following their UEFA Cup first round win by 4-2 on aggregate against SK Sigma Olomouc, the Spanish club opened their group campaign with a 2-0 home win against FC Utrecht, with two goals from David Villa after 77 and 82 minutes. And Zaragoza have won all their three games in the competition so far.