Djurgården vs SK Rapid facts
Monday, March 24, 2025
Article summary
Previous meetings, form guides, links and trivia ahead of the UEFA Conference League quarter-final first leg.
Article top media content

Article body
Djurgården's first European quarter-final in 69 years pits them against Austrian side SK Rapid in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League tie.
The Swedish club beat Cypriot debutants Pafos 3-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 thanks to a 3-0 home win in the second leg, while Rapid – who are themselves in the last eight of a UEFA competition for the first time since 1996 – won a narrow tie against Borac last time out, Louis Schaub's extra-time goal securing a 3-2 aggregate victory.
This will be a first meeting between the two sides in UEFA competition.
Form guide
Djurgården
Record vs Austrian clubs: W0 D1 L1 F2 A4
Home record vs Austrian clubs: N/A
Djurgården's only previous matches against Austrian clubs were both away at LASK Linz. They lost 2-0 in the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup group stage and met against on Matchday 1 of this season's league phase where second-half goals from August Priske and Tokmac Nguen helped them recover from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw.
Victories in their final four league phase matches helped Djurgården to a fifth-place finish and automatic qualification to the round of 16. That led them to a tie against Pafos; a 1-0 defeat in the away first leg was successfully overturned in the return fixture in Stockholm thanks to goals from Oskar Fallenius, Daniel Stensson and Nguen that secured a 3-1 aggregate victory.
The 12-time Swedish champions' only previous UEFA competition quarter-final was in the inaugural European Cup in 1955/56, where they lost 4-1 on aggregate against Hibernian. Djurgården's home match was played at Firhill Park, Glasgow.
Djurgården have won seven of their last nine two-legged European ties, while their home record is 12 wins in 15 matches (L3).
The Swedish side finished fourth in the 2024 Allsvenskan.
Finland's Jani Honkavaara replaced Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlöf, who had been in charge since 2018, as Djurgården head coach at the end of December.
SK Rapid
Record vs Swedish clubs: W3 D1 L0 F8 A1
Away record vs Swedish clubs: W1 D1 L0
Rapid are unbeaten in their four previous matches against teams from Sweden, although this will be their first meeting with a club from the country for 25 years.
They won 4-0 on aggregate against Malmö in the 1960/61 UEFA European Cup quarter-final (2-0 h, 2-0 a) and more recently triumphed 4-1 versus Örgryte in a 2000/01 UEFA Cup first round tie (3-0 h, 1-1 a).
Die Grün-Weißen finished fourth in the league phase (W4 D1 L1). In their round of 16 tie they took on Borac of Bosnia and Herzegovina, drawing 1-1 in the first leg before a tight return fixture in Vienna was settled in extra time with Schaub's strike finally confirming a 3-2 aggregate win.
The Austrian side are appearing in their first UEFA quarter-final since the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they beat Dynamo Moscow 4-0 on aggregate. In total this will be their ninth appearance in the last eight of UEFA competition; they have won three of their previous eight ties.
Rapid have lost just two of their 14 European matches this season (W9 D3); their record in the first leg of their last 13 two-legged ties in UEFA competition is W7 D4 L2.
Robert Klauss' side finished fourth in last season's Austrian Bundesliga and were also runners-up in the Austrian Cup, losing 2-1 to Sturm Graz in the final.
Croatian forward Dion Beljo has scored in each of Rapid's last four Conference League matches.
Links and trivia
Rapid's Isak Jansson is a Swedish Under-21 international and began his career with Kalmar. He has one win and six defeats in seven previous appearances against Djurgården.
Rapid's Romeo Amane signed from Swedish side Häcken in January. He made six appearances against Djurgården across his three seasons with the club (W4 D1 L1).
Matthias Seidl made his international debut in Austria's 3-1 victory against Sweden on 12 September 2023, coming off the bench late on in a UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier. Djurgården's Albin Ekdal started for Sweden.