Club Brugge v LASK facts

Club Brugge are well placed to reach the UEFA Champions League group stage for the third time in four seasons as they welcome LASK holding a 1-0 first-leg lead in their play-off tie.

• A tenth-minute Hans Vanaken penalty proved the only goal of the first leg in Austria on 20 August, although LASK had chances to get back on terms with James Holland and an attempted clearance from Club Brugge's Simon Deli both striking the woodwork.

• While the Belgian side have already appeared in the group stage six times – including 2018/19 – LASK are playing in only their second UEFA Champions League tie, but claimed a notable scalp in the third qualifying round.

Form guide
Club Brugge
• Runners-up to Genk in the 2018/19 Belgian league, Club Brugge are looking to reach the group stage for the seventh time, and the second season in a row – something they have only managed once before, in 2003/04.

• In 2018/19, Club Brugge finished third in Group A behind Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid, moving into the UEFA Europa League. There they were eliminated in the round of 32 by Austrian side Salzburg, going out 5-2 on aggregate (2-1 h, 0-4 a).

• The loss at Salzburg ended a three-match winning run against Austrian sides. After the first leg in Linz the Bruges club's overall record against Austrian opponents is W5 D2 L5, with wins in each of their last three home matches.

• The Bruges side have kept five clean sheets in their last six UEFA Champions League matches, qualifying included.

• This is Club Brugge's second UEFA Champions League play-off, following their 2015/16 defeat by Manchester United (1-3 a, 0-4 h); that loss in Bruges was their heaviest home European defeat. They have not come through the qualifying rounds to reach the group stage since 2005/06.

• Club Brugge won their first five play-off ties in the UEFA Europa League but lost the most recent, against AEK Athens in 2017/18 – they have not won a play-off tie in UEFA competition since beating Grasshoppers in 2014/15.

• On the last three occasions that Club Brugge have reached the UEFA Champions League group stage from the qualifying phase they have done so with penalty shoot-out victories – against Shakhtar Donetsk in 2002/03, Borussia Dortmund in 2003/04 and Vålerenga in 2005/06. Their only other successful such qualification came on away goals against Austria Wien in the inaugural 1992/93 UEFA Champions League.

• Club Brugge have won 15 of the 16 UEFA ties in which they won the away first leg – although the exception came after their most recent 1-0 away success in the first game, against Brann in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup first round; the Norwegian side won 2-1 in Belgium to progress on away goals. Club Brugge have won the other three ties in which they won 1-0 away in the first match.

• Club Brugge's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W4 L0:
4-1 v Shakhtar Donetsk, 2002/03 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
4-2 v Borussia Dortmund, 2003/04 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
4-3 v Vålerenga, 2005/06 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
4-3 v Lech Poznań, 2009/10 UEFA Europa League play-off

LASK
• This is only LASK's sixth match in the European Cup. In 1965/66, as Austrian champions, they were eliminated by Poland's Górnik Zabrze in the preliminary round, losing 3-1 at home and 2-1 away.

• LASK finished second to Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga under Oliver Glasner in 2018/19, Valérien Ismaël succeeding the Wolfsburg-bound coach this summer and guiding the team to a 5-2 aggregate victory against Switzerland's Basel in the third qualifying round thanks to a 2-1 away win and 3-1 home success.

• LASK qualified for UEFA competition in 2018/19 for the first time since 2000, when they reached the second round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Last season they beat Lillestrøm 6-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round, before an away-goals defeat against Beşiktaş in the next stage (0-1 a, 2-1 h).

• The Linz outfit are bidding to become the fifth Austrian club to appear in the UEFA Champions League group stage, and the first since Austria Wien in 2013/14 – the country's sole appearance since 2005/06.

• This is LASK's first tie against a club from Belgium.

• LASK have been eliminated from all three UEFA competition ties in which they lost the home first leg; indeed, on each occasion they also suffered a second-leg defeat. They have never previously travelled for the away second leg with a 1-0 deficit.

• LASK are yet to take part in a penalty shoot-out in UEFA competition.

Links and trivia
• Emanuel Pogatetz was in the Hannover side that beat Club Brugge 2-1 at home and 1-0 away in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League round of 32.

• LASK coach Ismaël was in the Bayern München team that beat Club Brugge 1-0 in Munich in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage, when Philippe Clement, the Belgian club's current coach, was an unused substitute for the visitors. Both played 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw in Bruges that December.