[Forza_Roma]

Good for him! Trapattoni and Matthaeus lead Salzburg to Austrian title.

VIENNA, April 28 (Reuters) - Salzburg, guided by Giovanni Trapattoni and Lothar Matthaeus, clinched the Austrian championship with five games to spare after a 2-2 home draw with Austria Vienna on Saturday.

Needing a point to guarantee the title, Salzburg made a dream start with a second-minute header by German striker Alexander Zickler.

Vienna threatened to ruin the party with two goals from Slovenian midfielder Milenko Acimovic but Croatia's Niko Kovac equalised in the 66th minute, heading in a corner to maintain Salzburg's unbeaten home record.

After finishing runners-up to Vienna last season, Salzburg brought in experienced Italian Trapattoni and former Germany captain Matthaeus as head coach and coach respectively.

Saturday's draw earned Trapattoni, 68, the 20th domestic honour of his coaching career.

It also made him the second European coach, after Austria's Ernst Happel, to land championships in four countries.

Trapattoni previously won seven Serie A crowns with Juventus and Inter Milan, a German Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich and a Portuguese championship with Benfica.

His honours include European Cup, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup triumphs during his 10-year spell at Juventus and a second UEFA Cup title with Inter.

Salzburg's title was their fourth overall, and the first since the controversial takeover by soft drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz.

Mateschitz took charge of the club, then known as SV Austria Salzburg, in April 2005 and subsequently rebranded it Red Bull Salzburg.

His decision to change the team's traditional violet strip and re-found the club as a new entity with no ties to the previous incarnation sparked protests from former fans, many of whom formed a new club in the lower divisions.

Elsewhere on Saturday, second-placed Mattersburg slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Sturm Graz.

Source(text): Reuters
Source(images): UEFA.com