Ludogorets and Basel in need of first win

They might both have collected just a single point so far but third place and a ticket to the UEFA Europa League is within reach for PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and FC Basel 1893.

• The sides drew 1-1 in Basel on opening night, Renato Steffen coming to the rescue for the Swiss champions 11 minutes from time after Ludogorets had taken a surprise lead through Jonathan Cafú .

• The winners of this game will secure third place in Group A.

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 Dié was sent off for the visitors with 18 minutes gone.

• The lineups on 22 October 2014 at Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski were:
Ludogorets:Stoyanov, Júnior Caiçara, Terziev, Moţi, Y Minev, Dyakov, Fábio Espinho, Alexandrov (Wanderson 81), Marcelinho, Dani Abalo (Misidjan 77), Bezjak (Hamza 68).
Basel: Vaclík, T Xhaka, Schär, Suchý, Aliji (Ar Ajeti 75), González (Sio 87), Serey Dié, Elneny, F Frei, Calla (Hamoudi 84), Embolo.    

• The Swiss side avenged that defeat 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 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 – 11.

• The line-ups for the first leg in Bulgaria on 21 August 2013 were:
Ludogorets: V Stoyanov, Júnior Caiçara, Barthe, Moţi, Minev, Dani Abalo (Misidjan 63) Dyakov, Zlatinski, I Stoyanov, Marcelinho (Fábio Espinho 72), Bezjak (Michel 56).
Basel: Sommer, Voser, Schär, Ajeti, Safari, Elneny, F Frei, Díaz, Stocker (Sauro 85), Salah (Delgado 88), Sio (T. Xhaka 65).

• Despite falling behind early on, Ludogorets led 2-1 early in the second half – with Marcelinho on target – but were then swept aside as Basel scored three times in the final 31 minutes.

Match background

Ludogorets
• The Bulgarian champions lost 3-1 at home to Paris Saint-Germain on matchday two after once again taking the lead. That was followed by successive defeats at the hands of Arsenal FC, losing 6-0 in London and 3-2 at home, when they had led 2-0.

• 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.

Basel
• On matchday two Basel went down to two early Arsenal goals in London and lost 3-0 away and 2-1 at home in the double header with Paris.

• This is their seventh group stage campaign. Two seasons ago they lost three of their four away matches, succumbing 5-1 at Real Madrid CF before the Ludogorets defeat.

• A 1-1 draw at Liverpool FC ensured they went through as Group B runners-up for their first appearance in the knockout rounds since 2011/12. In the round of 16 a 1-1 home draw with FC Porto was followed by a 4-0 away defeat.

• 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.

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.

• Stoyanov, Marcelinho and Svetoslav Dyakov lost 3-0 to Sweden, with Alexander Fransson an unused substitute, in Solna on 10 October in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Match facts

Ludogorets
• Natanael is a yellow card away from a one-match ban.

• The Eagles from Razgrad are 14 games unbeaten in domestic competition.

• Claudiu Keșerü has scored nine goals in his last eight appearances.

Basel
• Geoffroy Serey Dié and Steffen serve one-match suspensions.

• Basel, 6-0 victors over Vaduz on Saturday, are undefeated in 18 domestic fixtures this season.

• Part of the Norway side beaten 2-0 by Serbia in the first leg of the teams' 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off tie, Mohamed Elyounoussi scored the only goal of the return match in Drammen.