Battle for Europa League

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Anthony Taylor whistles Rapids' hit against Braga.(Bild: GEPA)

Rapid want to turn around a 1:2 against Braga in the play-off second leg. Anthony Taylor, today's referee, is taking no prisoners (anymore). 

The special trains for the fans heading west would be waiting in Hütteldorf until after midnight tonight. But nobody at Rapid is thinking about possible extra time or even a penalty shoot-out - the job has to be done in 90 minutes. It can therefore be assumed that coach Robert Klauß will deploy his full offensive power from the start, with Burgstaller, Beljo and Jansson. Without a real striker (Bischof and Dursun are injured) on the bench.

But despite being 2:1 behind, patience and caution in defense will be necessary - Braga is not a team that only reacts. Especially not key player Rodrigo Zalazar, who made the difference in the first leg. Apart from the early red card, of course.

"I was very annoyed with him back then"
Today's referee takes no prisoners (anymore). Until 2012, Anthony Taylor was still a prison guard, but now the Englishman is world-famous. "I was very annoyed with him back then," Klauß remembers the EURO, when Taylor became the bogeyman of the German nation because he didn't give Spain's Marc Cucurella a penalty hand in the quarter-finals.

Marc Cucurella's handball caused trouble.(Bild: AFP/Fabrice COFFRINI, THOMAS KIENZLE)

Almost 400 appearances in the Premier League speak for Taylor, he only deals with superstars on a day-to-day basis - Klauß: "I'm happy when we have such a good referee." In Austria, people were never angry with him anyway.