Slavia bid to regain momentum against Lille

Beaten 2-0 at Genoa CFC on Matchday 1, SK Slavia Praha will look to make up lost ground in UEFA Europa League Group B against a LOSC Lille Métropole side who opened with a 1-1 draw against Valencia CF.

Previous meetings
• Meeting Czech opponents for the first time, Lille are the fifth French side to visit Slavia in Prague. Slavia have yet to beat Ligue 1 opponents at home, registering two draws and two defeats, against FC Girondins de Bordeaux and, most recently, AS Monaco FC.

Match background
• Slavia battled through to the UEFA Cup round of 32 on their group-stage debut in 2005/06 but missed the cut in the final edition last season. Lille reached the round of 16 following their only group-stage campaign in 2004/05.

• With their 3-0 play-off win over FK Crvena Zvezda, Slavia finally won a European tie at the sixth attempt since returning to their refurbished Eden Stadium. They failed to score in their first four games back at their traditional home.

• Lille have won three of their last four European away fixtures, most notably beating AC Milan 2-0 at San Siro in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage. A 1-0 loss at Manchester United FC in the first knockout round of the same competition interrupted that winning run.

Team facts
• Karel Jarolím is in his second spell as Slavia coach, having represented the club three times as a player. His two sons also started their playing careers with the club, with David Jarolím the current captain at Hamburger SV and Lukáš Jarolím now in Italy with AC Siena. The latter played in France with CS Sedan-Ardennes in 2003.

• Lille boss Rudi Garcia is also part of a footballing dynasty. His father José – who died earlier this year - was a player at US Dunkerque. The coach said: "It was him that gave me the football bug."

• Garcia represented Lille as a midfielder in the 1980s prior to spells with SM Caen and FC Martigues. His coaching career has seen him take charge of AS Saint-Etienne, Dijon FCO and Le Mans UC 72, returning to Lille in 2008.

• Jarolím has a long association with France, having played for FC Rouen (1987-90) and SC Amiens (1990-91), then returned there to be compatriot Ivan Hašek’s assistant during his spell as coach of RC Strasbourg (2001-03). Hašek is now president of the Football Association of the Czech Republic and also stand-in coach of the national team.

• Slavia captain Vladimír Šmicer is also familiar with French football having played for RC Lens (1996-99), where he won the 1997/98 Ligue 1 title, and FC Girondins de Bordeaux (2005-07) either side of his spell at Liverpool FC.

• Šmicer and Lille captain Rio Mavuba were team-mates at Bordeaux.

• Slavia's Paris-born Tunisian midfielder Hocine Ragued also played in France, being loaned to FC Istres and FC Gueugnon during a spell at Paris Saint-Germain FC (2002-06). He joined the Czech champions from Belgian side RAEC Mons this summer.

• Ragued's Slavia team-mate and fellow Tunisian, midfielder Tijani Belaid, was also born in Paris but has never represented a French club, having been whisked off from Paris FC to FC Internazionale Milano as a teenager.

• Slavia visit Valencia on Matchday 3, while Lille will host Genoa on the same night, 22 October.