Salzburg are coming from what was, without doubt, the most successful season in the club's history, having won the title and made the last four of the Europa League.
Despite winning four titles in a row, the Red Bulls opted for a managerial change last summer, with the rational behind Marco Rose's appointment being that they were hoping for their European results to improve, having never made the group stage of the Champions League nor made a notable Europa League run.
It initially looked that it would be more continental heartbreak for the Red Bulls when they were knocked out of the Champions League qualifying by Croatian champions Rijeka on away goals, but they managed to make the group stage of the Europa League and restore some hope of having a successful season.
They initially needed time to get used to Marco Rose's ideas and lagged behind Sturm domestically, but improved over time and ended the first half of the season just below the Grazers while topping their Europa League group.
However, the Red Bulls saved their best for the spring season, as they destroyed everything in their path in the league and eventually won it with ease, while enjoying a superb Europa League run which saw them beat Real Sociedad, Dortmund and Lazio on their way towards the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Marseille after extra-time.
The sole negative regarding their season was the fact that they were beaten by Sturm in the Austrian Cup final, but they had what was, without question, a superb season and will be hoping to make another step up and finally qualify for the group stage of the Champions League next time around.
