Brann defeated Mitrovica 5-0 and PAOK 3-2.
Austria Wien beat Hajduk Split 3-2 and Farul Constanța 5-0.
Eight goals scored and two conceded. Exactly the same record for the two national champions who open their Champions League third qualifying-round tie on Tuesday.
The similarities end there.
Brann already know what lies beyond this round. In 2023/24, they progressed from a group in which they finished above Slavia Prague and St. Pölten before reaching the quarter-finals. Only Barcelona stopped them.
Austria Wien have never appeared in the main competition.
The memory of Manchester United
Less than a year ago, Brann welcomed Manchester United to this same stadium.
They won 1-0 through an Ingrid Stenevik goal in front of 16,019 spectators, a record attendance for Norwegian women’s football. Brann travelled to the second leg with an advantage but ultimately lost the tie: former Brann forward Elisabeth Terland scored all three of United’s goals in England.
Austria Wien also fell at this stage. They drew 0-0 away to Paris FC before losing the return leg 2-0 in Vienna.
For Brann, qualification would mean reclaiming the place they occupied two seasons ago. For Austria, it would mean reaching it for the first time.
The winners will advance to the eighteen-team league phase. The losers will continue their European campaign in the second qualifying round of the Women’s Europa Cup.
Fourteen league matches unbeaten
Brann are favourites for reasons that extend beyond their European history.
Laura Kaminski’s side have played fourteen Toppserien matches, winning twelve and drawing two without defeat. They have scored 45 goals and conceded four. Brann lead Aalesund by seven points, although they have played one game more, and have also reached the Norwegian Cup final.
Their latest match demonstrated the depth of their attack.
Røa took the lead in the fourth minute and held it until first-half stoppage time. Brann equalised before the break and scored four times in the second half to win 5-1. Brenna Lovera came on in the 57th minute and completed a hat-trick in eleven minutes.
Diljá Ýr Zomers played only the final twenty-five minutes. The Iceland international has scored four of Brann’s eight European goals: two against Mitrovica and another two against PAOK to overturn an early 1-0 deficit.
Zomers, Lovera, Anna Aahjem and Lauren Davidson allow Kaminski to rotate her attacking options without sacrificing goals. Against PAOK, Nea Lehtola came on after the interval and struck in stoppage time to secure the 3-2 victory.
Austria won the title in the 100th minute
Austria Wien have less European experience as a club, but they are no strangers to survival.
They won the first league title in their history on 30 May. Austria needed a draw against St. Pölten on the final day and conceded a penalty in the 98th minute. The team that had won the previous ten championships moved ahead and provisionally reclaimed the title.
With the final action of the match, goalkeeper Jasmin Pal went forward for a free kick and the ball eventually fell to Carina Wenninger. The captain scored the equaliser in the 100th minute.
That 1-1 draw ended St. Pölten’s decade of dominance and completed Austria’s first domestic double, two weeks after they had also lifted the cup.
The new season began with a 1-0 defeat to St. Pölten. Since then, Stefan Kenesei’s side have won four consecutive matches, scoring seventeen goals and conceding two:
- 3-2 against Hajduk Split
- 5-0 against Farul Constanța
- 2-0 against LASK
- 7-0 against Red Bull Salzburg
Patricia Pfanner has scored six goals during that run. Modesta Uka has four, three of them in the Champions League. In their latest match, Austria were already 5-0 ahead against Salzburg before half-time and finished with five different players sharing their seven goals.
Seven goals before the 23rd minute
The opening exchanges could shape the first leg.
Austria scored three times in eighteen minutes against Hajduk, twice in four minutes against Farul and another two before the 23rd minute against Salzburg. That is seven goals inside the opening twenty-two minutes across three of their last four victories.
There has also been another side to those fast starts. After taking a 3-0 lead against Hajduk, Austria conceded once before half-time and again immediately after the interval. They ended up defending a 3-2 advantage in a match that had appeared settled.
Brann, meanwhile, conceded the opening goal against both PAOK and Røa. They won both matches. They have shown that they can recover during games, but allowing Austria another comfortable start would hand their opponents the period in which they have caused the most damage.
The differences between the benches may then come into play. Lovera has just scored a hat-trick as a substitute, while Lehtola has already changed a European match from the bench. Austria rely on a far more experienced spine, with Wenninger, Virginia Kirchberger-Prohaska, Katharina Schiechtl and new signing Verena Hanshaw in defence.
Brann will look to make home advantage count and travel to Vienna with a greater cushion than the one they failed to protect against Manchester United. Austria’s aim is to survive Bergen and take the decision to a Generali Arena where they once rescued a league title after the clock had passed the 100-minute mark.
Brann begin as favourites. Austria arrive knowing that a match is not over until the final ball has been played.
Match details
The first leg takes place on Tuesday 25 August at 18:00 CEST at Brann Stadion in Bergen. The return match will be played on Tuesday 1 September, also at 18:00 CEST, at the Generali Arena in Vienna.
Romanian referee Alina Peșu will take charge of the match. She will be assisted by Heini Hyvönen and Daniela Constantinescu, with Roxana Recorean serving as the fourth official.
The match will be shown on VG+ Sport in Norway. In Austria, coverage on ORF ON begins at 17:50, while ORF Sport+ will join the match at 18:30.
