The atmosphere surrounding Rapid going into the season was not the best, as Goran Djuricin remained in charge despite protests by large sections of fans.
He did well to guide the Green-Whites into the Europa League group stage, but the Viennese's domestic form was poor throughout the autumn season and he was eventually fired, with Didi Kuhbauer taking over.
The former St.Polten manager failed to really improve the Green-Whites' domestic form, but they at least managed to get out of their Europa League group to set up a knock-out stage clash against Inter, which they inevitably lost.
Rapid's domestic form remained poor after the winter break and they were thus condemned to a place inside the Relegation Group. They started to improve in March and won the Relegation Group, while they also did well in the cup, where they reached the final, only to be defeated by Salzburg.
The Viennese therefore had to try and make Europe via the Play-offs and did well to beat Mattersburg in the semi finals, but were beaten in the final by Sturm on away goals.
They have thus failed to achieve their goal for the season, which was to make Europe, but can at least be pleased to have shown signs of progress in the second half of the campaign. Their goal for the summer will be to strengthen and build on what they did in the spring season.
