Attacked quickly in the early stages and thus won the ball time and again. After such game it was 1:0. Seidl intercepted a Hungarian back pass and denied goalkeeper Balazs Megeri with a precise shot at the near post (15′). Guest leadership had emerged.
The initial fury of the Viennese subsided with the advance. The duel was lost in laughter, with occasional strange refereeing decisions. After 34 minutes, North Macedonian referee Aleksandar Stavrev issued four yellow cards – all four went to Rapid. His assistant on the line raised his hand decisively in the 32nd minute, as Debrecen striker Dorian Babunski fired a free-kick cross over the line from an offside position.
The third-placed team in the previous Hungarian season was completely harmless in attack and made a decisive mistake defensively: Bergstaller tricked right-back Erik Kusnier on the outside goal line and with the following Stangl pass, Gruel Forced Oleksandr Romantschuk to concede an own goal. (43′) in the center.
The initial decision was made at the beginning of the second part. Thorsten Schick’s throw-in and Roman Kerschbaum’s pass was enough for Gruel to hit the target and past goalkeeper Megeri to make it 3–0 (51′). Even Barisic, who had been reserved at first, openly applauded with his supervisory staff because of the efficiency shown by his team.
Despite the management mode, Rapid improved again against Hungary, who were 192 places down in the UEFA club rankings: Oswald’s shot coming in from the back of Megeri bounced off Bergstaller’s legs (72′). Afterwards, persistent players were rested and players with previous problems were replaced. For example, Maximilian Hoffmann returned in place of Leopold Querfeld following a long hip injury. And substitute Bajik was delighted with his first goal in the European Cup (90th) after Seidl’s preparation.
