As the winners of the 1954–55 season, Rapid were Austria's entrant for the inaugural European Cup in the following season. They were drawn in the first round against PSV and opened with a 6–1 home victory, with Alfred Körner scoring a hat-trick. Despite losing the away leg 1–0, the club still advanced to a quarter-final, where they started with a 1–1 home draw against Milan before being defeated 7–2 in the away match at the San Siro to lose 8–3 on aggregate.