Sturm Graz vs Leipzig facts

Sturm Graz finish their league phase campaign in the UEFA Champions League at home to Leipzig, who are also playing their final European game of the season.

This is the clubs' first meeting, and only Leipzig's third game against an Austrian team.

Both sides have three points and are unable to progress to the knockout rounds. Sturm lost 5-0 at Atalanta in their last fixture, making it six defeats in seven games; Leipzig have also lost all but one of their fixtures but registered their first points of 2024/25 on Matchday 7, beating Sporting CP 2-1 in Germany.

Form guide

Sturm Graz

Record vs German clubs: W1 D1 L7 F7 A17
Home record vs German clubs: W1 D0 L3

Sturm's 1-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 4 made it three losses in their last four games against German clubs (D1).

That was the first time Sturm had played a Bundesliga team since losing 5-3 on aggregate against Wolfsburg in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup second round (2-2 a, 1-3 h).

A 2-0 home win against Lokomotive Leipzig in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup third round – a tie they won 2-1 on aggregate – remains Sturm's only victory against German opposition. They have lost their other three home games, conceding seven goals and scoring two.

This is the fourth time Sturm have featured in the Champions League proper – and the first since 2001/02, their third successive appearance.

That most recent campaign is the only one in which the Austrian side survived the initial group stage. First in their section ahead of Galatasaray, Rangers and Monaco, Sturm were third behind Valencia and Manchester United in the second group stage, though they did end with six points thanks to two wins against Panathinaikos.

Sturm have lost five times in Champions League qualifying since that last group appearance 23 seasons ago. This is the first time they have qualified direct.

In 2023/24, Sturm were beaten 7-2 on aggregate by PSV in the Champions League third qualifying round, and then finished third in their UEFA Europa League group behind eventual champions Atalanta and Sporting CP. That sent them into the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they eventually lost to LOSC Lille in the last 16 (0-3 h, 1-1 a).

The Austrian club have lost six of their last nine home European games (W2 D1) while the Matchday 5 victory against Girona (1-0) was only their sixth in their last 28, a sequence that stretches back to 2011 and includes 19 defeats. They have lost to Club Brugge (0-1) and Sporting CP (0-2) this season.

Last season Christian Ilzer's finished top of the Austrian Bundesliga to end Salzburg's run of ten titles in a row. It was the club's fourth league triumph and a first since 2010/11; they also claimed the Austrian Cup for the seventh time, winning a second domestic double.

Ilzer departed for German club Hoffenheim on 15 November with Jürgen Säumel named as his replacement.

Leipzig

Record vs Austrian clubs: W0 D0 L2 F2 A4
Away record vs Austrian clubs: W0 D0 L1

Leipzig's only previous games against a team from Austria came in the 2018/19 Europa League group stage, when they lost 2-3 at home and 0-1 away against Salzburg.

This is Leipzig's seventh campaign in the Champions League, all since 2017/18, and a sixth in a row.

Semi-finalists in 2019/20, losing a one-off tie 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, the German club have reached the knockout rounds in four of those seven campaigns, including 2023/24.

Last season Marco Rose's side finished second in Group G behind Manchester City before being edged out by eventual champions Real Madrid in the last 16 (0-1 h, 1-1 a).

Leipzig's away European record is W13 D6 L17, with seven wins and eight defeats in the last 15. They have lost at Atlético de Madrid (1-2), Celtic (1-3) and Inter Milan (0-1) this season.

This is only Leipzig's eighth season of European football. They became the first club to make their continental debut in the Champions League group stage in September 2017.

Rose's charges were fourth in the Bundesliga in 2023/24, Leipzig's sixth successive top-four finish and a sixth in seven years since being promoted to the German top flight for the first time in 2016.

Links and trivia

Sturm captain Stefan Hierländer made 22 2. Bundesliga appearances for Leipzig between 2014 and 2016 and scored six goals in 17 league outings for the club's reserve side.

Have also played in Germany:
Jon Gorenc Stanković (Borussia Dortmund 2014–16)
Emir Karic (Darmstadt 2021–24)
Dimitri Lavalée (Mainz 2020–21)
Lovro Zvonarek (Bayern München 2021–24)
Matteo Bignetti (Eintracht Frankfurt youth 2020–23)

Have played in Austria:
Péter Gulácsi (Salzburg 2013–15)
Amadou Haidara (Salzburg 2016–19, Liefering 2016 loan)
Kevin Kampl (Salzburg 2012–15)
Nicolas Seiwald (Salzburg 2009–23, Liefering 2019/20)
Benjamin Šeško (Salzburg 2019–23, Liefering 2019–21 loan)

Have played together:
Stefan Hierländer & Péter Gulácsi (Salzburg 2013/14, Leipzig: 2015/16)
Stefan Hierländer & Kevin Kampl (Salzburg 2012–14)
Stefan Hierländer & Lukas Klostermann, Yussuf Poulsen (Leipzig 2014–16)
Stefan Hierländer & Willi Orbán (Leipzig 2015/16)
Emir Karic & Amadou Haidara (Liefering 2016/17)
Jusuf Gazibegović & Nicolas Seiwald, Benjamin Šeško (Liefering 2019/20)

International team-mates:
Jon Gorenc Stanković, Tomi Horvat & Benjamin Šeško (Slovenia)
Amady Camara & Amadou Haidara (Mali)

Latest news

Sturm Graz

Matchday 7 was Sturm's first competitive game of 2025.

The Matchday 6 defeat at LOSC Lille was Jürgen Säumel's first as Sturm coach.

On 17 December Sturm confirmed Säumel had signed a permanent contract.

Sturm have played friendlies against Lugano (2-1) and Grasshopper-Club (0-1), Orijent Rijeka (1-1) and Rijeka (0-2) this month.

The Austrian champions are unbeaten in ten league games (W7 D3), since a 0-3 home loss to Wolfsberg on 22 September.

Sturm return to domestic action on 1 February, when they are at home to Austria Wien in the Austrian Cup quarter-finals.

Seedy Jatta came on at half-time at Atalanta having missed Sturm's previous two friendlies with a back problem.

Max Johnston missed the games against Orijent Rijeka and Rijeka, both on 17 January, and Atalanta with a calf injury.

On 11 January Sturm announced Denmark Under-21 forward Mika Biereth had joined Monaco.

Erencan Yardımcı's loan spell at Sturm ended early on 2 January, when he returned to parent club Hoffenheim.

Leipzig

Leipzig have won two games and lost two in the Bundesliga since Matchday 6. On Saturday they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

Seven days earlier, Leipzig had let slip a three-goal half-time advantage to draw 3-3 at Bochum.

Marco Rose's side conceded five goals in their first ten league games this season with seven clean sheets; they have let in 24 in the subsequent nine, keeping one clean sheet.

Xavi Simons, who had been out since 23 October with an ankle injury, marked his comeback with two goals in a 4-2 success against Werder Bremen on 12 January.

Three days later nine-man Leipzig lost 2-1 in Stuttgart, Benjamin Šeško scoring for the fifth league game running before being dismissed in the final stages, as was Loïs Openda – the first time Leipzig had had two players sent off in a Bundesliga game.

André Silva has missed the last four games with a calf injury.

Benjamin Henrichs has been absent since tearing his Achilles tendon on 20 December.

Castello Lukeba (out since 30 November) and Assan Ouédraogo (26 November) have both been sidelined by thigh injuries.

On 10 January Leipzig announced the signing of Ridle Baku from Wolfsburg on a contract until 2027.

On 17 January Leipzig confirmed Arthur Vermeeren, who had been on loan at the club from Atlético de Madrid, had signed a permanent deal until 2029.