Historic win spurs Ludogorets for Basel return

PFC Ludogorets Razgrad embark on a UEFA Champions League group stage campaign for only the second time and begin with a visit to FC Basel 1893, opponents they also met two years ago. 

Previous meetings
• Ludogorets made history in 2014/15 when full-back Yordan Minev's goal in added time secured a 1-0 home win against Basel – the first success for any Bulgarian side in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Geoffroy Serey Die was sent off for the visitors with 18 minutes gone.

• The timing of Ludogorets' goal should not have been a surprise. Seven of their goals in the UEFA Champions League including qualifiers have come after the 85th minute, including extra time.

• The Swiss side turned that round with a 4-0 home victory two weeks later, 17-year-old Breel Embolo, Derlis González, Shkelzen Gashi and Marek Suchý all on the scoresheet. It helped them finish second in Group B while Ludogorets ended fourth.

• The lineups on 4 November 2014 at St. Jakob-Park were:
Basel: Vaclík, T Xhaka, Schär, Suchý, Safari, Elneny, F Frei (Díaz 81), Zuffi, González (Calla 69), Gashi (Delgado 74), Embolo.
Ludogorets: Stoyanov, Júnior Caiçara, Terziev, Moţi (A Aleksandrov 21), Angulo, Dyakov, Fábio Espinho (Anicet Abel 64), Dani Abalo, Marcelinho, Alexandrov, Bezjak (Hamza 46).

• The teams also met the previous season when Basel came out on top in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, winning 4-2 away and 2-0 at home. Ludogorets have conceded more goals in the UEFA Champions League against Basel than against any other opponents – ten.

• The lineups for that second leg in Switzerland were:
Basel: Sommer, Voser, Schär (Sauro 55), Ajeti, Safari (P Degen 77), F Frei, T Xhaka, Díaz, Salah (Delgado 70), Stocker, Sio.
Ludogorets: V Stoyanov, Choco, Mäntylä, Moţi, Minev, Dyakov, Zlatinski (Fábio Espinho 59), I Stoyanov (Vitinha 86), Marcelinho, Misidjan (Aleksandrov 73), Bezjak.

Match background

Basel
• The Swiss champions are in their seventh campaign. Two seasons ago, in addition to the win against Ludogorets, they also beat Liverpool FC 1-0 at home but went down by the same score there against Real Madrid CF.

• In the round of 16 a 1-1 home draw with FC Porto was followed by a 4-0 away defeat. They have lost just three of their 19 home games in UEFA competition since the start of 2013/14.

• Basel posted back-to-back victories against PFC CSKA Sofia in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage – winning 2-0 at the Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski on 22 October 2009 before a 3-1 home triumph.

Ludogorets
• After winning the Bulgarian title for the fifth season in a row, Ludogorets scored 15 goals in the qualifying campaign to book their return to the group stage.

• They first beat FK Mladost Podgorica 2-0 at home and 3-0 away. Against FK Crvena zvezda they followed a 2-2 draw at home with a 4-2 extra-time win away. Wanderson scored three of the goals in the away leg.

• In the play-offs a 2-0 home win over FC Viktoria Plzeň set up a 4-2 aggregate victory.

• Two years ago Ludogorets lost all three away games, conceding four goals without reply against Real Madrid. Apart from the win against Basel, they picked up only one other point, in a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool.

Coach and player links
• Bulgarian Football Union president Borislav Mihaylov, who made 102 appearances for his country, played for FC Zürich in 1998/99 alongside Urs Fischer.

• Vladislav Stoyanov and Yordan Minev played in Bulgaria's 1-0 defeat against Marek Suchý's Czech Republic in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Sofia in October 2013.

Match facts

Basel
• Basel have won eight games out of eight this season, seven of them in the league where they have opened up a nine-point gap at the summit.

• Basel have scored at least three goals in all seven of their league outings this season, registering 24 goals in all.

• Andraž Šporar, out for more than six months with a foot injury, marked his comeback with a goal in a 3-2 friendly defeat by FC Wohlen on 31 August. Geoffroy Serey Dié also returned from injury.

• Marc Janko scored in Austria's 2-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying win in Georgia on 5 September. It was his 27th international goal, lifting him to joint fifth in Austria's all-time ranking.

• Manuel Akanji has been absent since suffering a knee injury in training in March.

Ludogorets
• Ludogorets have used 27 players in five league games this season.

• Only Júnior Quixadá has features in all five of those matches.

• Claudiu Keșerü suffered a fractured cheekbone in Romania's 1-1 draw against Montenegro in FIFA World Cup qualifying on 4 September. He is expected to play wearing a protective mask against Basel.

• Keșerü, Ludogorets' top scorer last season, has scored in each of his last three games for the club.

• Playmaker Marcelinho scored his second goal for Bulgaria during their thrilling 4-3 win against Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying on 6 September. Vladislav Stoyanov, on his 16th international appearance, conceded three goals for the first time in Bulgaria colours.

• Milan Borjan (Canada), Cosmin Moţi (Romania) and Svetoslav Dyakov (Bulgaria) were also on international duty last week.