Liberec v PAOK background
After scoring the fastest goal in UEFA Europa League history on matchday one, Slovan Liberec will look to catch 0-0-draw specialists PAOK cold in Group J.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time.
• Liberec’s only previous encounter with Greek opposition came in the third round of the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, where they drew 2-2 at home and lost 1-0 away to Panathinaikos.
• PAOK’s four games against Czech opponents have ended W2 D1 L1 (D1 L1 away from home).
Form guide
• Liberec won all four of their matches in qualifying and remain unbeaten this season in Europe following a 2-2 draw at Qarabağ on matchday one.
• Liberec have qualified in just one of their three previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group campaigns.
• PAOK drew 0-0 at home against Fiorentina on matchday one; four of their last seven group-stage fixtures have ended goalless. PAOK are joint top of the competition’s charts for both draws (16, with Lazio) and goalless draws (7, with Liverpool).
• The Salonika outfit have qualified from three of their previous six UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.
Links and trivia
• The journey from Salonika to Liberec is around 1,300km.
• Liberec’s Jan Sýkora notched the quickest ever goal in the UEFA Europa League on matchday one, 10.69 seconds into the game at Qarabağ.
• This match is taking place the day after Slovan defender Martin Latka (32) and PAOK counterpart Stelios Kitsou (23) celebrate birthdays.
• Latka played in Greece for Panionios from 2009–11.
The coaches
• Jindřich Trpišovský assumed control at Liberec in June 2015. The coach models himself on Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp. Once a youth coach at Sparta Praha, he previously led second-division Viktoria Žižkov, impressing despite the club’s financial problems.
• Vladimir Ivić took charge at PAOK in March this year following a spell as the club’s youth coach. An attacking midfielder, he won three Serbian titles with Partizan and played for AEK Athens and Aris Thessaloniki before a four-season PAOK stint.
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