Austria are coming from an excellent domestic season, which saw them finish second in the Bundesliga and one could argue that, with Salzburg having the financial backing that they have, this is the best that other Austrian sides can realistically hope for.
The Violets have had their ups and down but were consistent most of the time and have spent nearly the entire season inside the top three, with Altach's late collapse seeing them move up the table and eventually finish second. Thorsten Fink deserves a lot of credit for the work he has done with the youngest squad in the league, but the Violets will also feel that they could have done even more this season, as they narrowly missed out on a place in the knock-out stage of the Europa League, while also suffering a disappointing Austrian Cup exit in the hands of Admira, who defeated them in Vienna to reach the last four of the competition.
What is interesting regarding the Violets is that they only managed to have a midtable home record, losing seven of their eighteen home matches. A part of the reason for this is more than likely that they played their home games at Rapid's former Ernst-Happel stadium, as their own Franz Horr stadium is currently being expanded.
However, Austria had a rather mediocre home record in the season before as well and this is something that Fink will definitely need to address if his side are to make the step up and usurp Salzburg's domestic throne.
Given that they have such a young squad, Austria can expect to only further improve next season, providing that they keep their key players. This is a big "if" however, as it is hard to see Raphael Holzhauser staying, while other players, such as Kayode, will not be short of suitors either.
