Sevilla await Maribor again

Sevilla FC will have recent memories of a victorious UEFA Europa League campaign stirred by the visit of NK Maribor to the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.

• Both clubs claimed creditable draws on matchday one: Sevilla recovered from 2-1 down to earn a point at Liverpool FC while a late Damjan Bohar strike ensured Maribor opened Group E with a 1-1 draw at home to FC Spartak Moskva.

Previous meetings
• The teams were paired together in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 32 – a campaign that would end with Sevilla holding the trophy aloft, the first of their record three straight triumphs in the competition.

• The first leg in Slovenia ended 2-2, Marcos Tavares giving the home side a 33rd-minute lead. Kevin Gameiro (47) and Federico Fazio (72) turned the match around but Maribor substitute Dare Vršič levelled nine minutes from time.

• Back in Spain, goals either side of half-time from José Antonio Reyes (42) and Gameiro (59) took Sevilla through despite another late Vršič strike (90+2).

• The teams at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on 27 February 2014 were:
Sevilla: Varas, Carriço, Fazio, Pareja (Iborra 46), Diogo Figueiras, Moreno, Rakitić, Trochowski, Reyes (Marin 73), Vitolo, Gameiro (Bacca 81).
Maribor: Handanović, Filipović, Milec, Mezga (Cvijanovič 53), Mendy (Fajić 68), Bohar, Viler, Dervišević, Rajčević, Arghus, Metelj (Vršič 60).

Match background

Sevilla
• Those 2013/14 games against Maribor are Sevilla's only experience of Slovenian opponents.

• Last term, Sevilla made it to the round of 16 for the first time since 2009/10 – but they have never gone further in the UEFA Champions League era. This is their fifth group stage campaign and their third in a row.

• Sevilla qualified by finishing fourth in the 2016/17 Spanish Liga. They beat Turkey's İstanbul Başakşehir in August's play-offs, winning the away first leg 2-1 before a 2-2 draw in southern Spain.

• Sevilla have lost two of their last seven European home fixtures, winning four and drawing the other one.

Maribor
• The Slovene side are in the group stage for a third time, having previously competed in 1999/2000 and 2014/15. In that latter group appearance they drew 1-1 at FC Schalke 04 and lost at Sporting Clube de Portugal (1-3) and Chelsea FC (0-6), the latter their biggest away defeat in the competition.

• Maribor qualified for this UEFA Champions League edition by winning a sixth Slovenian title in seven seasons in 2016/17. In Europe last term, they overcame PFC Levski Sofia and Aberdeen FC before losing to Gabala SC in the UEFA Europa League play-offs.

• Maribor got to the current group stage by ousting HŠK Zrinjski of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round (2-1 away, 1-1 home) and Iceland's FH Hafnarfjördur in the next round (1-0 home, 1-0 away). In the play-offs they went down 2-1 at Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC in the first leg but progressed on away goals thanks to a 1-0 home success.

• The first-leg reverse at Hapoel was Maribor's second defeat in their last six European away games (W2 D2). In fact, they have lost only two of their last 13 matches, home and away (W6 D5).

• Maribor's sole victory in the UEFA Champions League proper, group stage to final, came away from home, with a 1-0 success at FC Dynamo Kyiv on their debut in September 1999. Their away record since reads D2 L3.

• Maribor have also won in Spain, triumphing 2-1 at Villarreal CF in their 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round first leg (3-2 aggregate). Their only other trip ended in a 6-1 second-leg thrashing at Club Atlético de Madrid in the 1992/93 European Cup Winners' Cup, completing a 9-1 aggregate loss.

Coach and player links
• Sunny Omoregie started his career in Spain, playing for CF Palencia in 2012/13 and Mérida AD the following season in the Tercera División.

Match facts

Sevilla
• Sevilla were eight games unbeaten (W5 D3) this season under new coach Eduardo Berizzo until Saturday, when they lost 2-0 at Club Atlético de Madrid.

• Jesús Navas's first Sevilla goal since rejoining the club from Manchester City FC earned the Andalusian side a 1-0 home victory against UD Las Palmas on 20 September.

• Sevilla have kept a clean sheet in four of their last six matches.

Maribor
• The 2-1 first-leg loss to Beer-Sheva last month is Maribor's only defeat in their past 20 games in all competitions.

• Darko Milanič's team have kept a clean sheet in five of their last seven fixtures.

• Maribor have 24 points from ten league matches (W7 D3) this term, four more than they had at the same stage last term.