FCK hope for better against Sparta

A 2-0 loss at CFR 1907 Cluj has left FC København with some ground to make up in Group K, where their Matchday 2 opponents AC Sparta Praha picked up a point in their first game by holding PSV Eindhoven 2-2.

Previous meetings
• The sides have never met before and København have encountered Czech opposition on only one occasion – in their current incarnation – going down 7-2 on aggregate to SK Hradec Králov in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, the home leg finishing 2-2.

• Sparta's three previous trips to Denmark have produced two wins and a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes against Odense BK in the second leg of a 2007/08 UEFA Cup first-round tie, which they went on to win 4-3 on penalties.

Match background
• Sparta competed in two UEFA Cup group stage campaigns, failing to qualify in both 2006/07 and 2007/08. København took part in the last two UEFA Cup group stages, missing the cut in 2007/08 but making it to the round of 32 last season.

• København are unbeaten in five home fixtures in Europe since a 3-1 group stage defeat by AS Saint-Etienne on 23 October last year.

Team facts
• København were founded in 1992 following a merger between Kjøbenhavns BK and B1903 København. B1903 met Czech opposition in the form of FC Baník Ostrava in the first round of the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, going down 6-1 on aggregate.

• København are led by former Norway international and coach Ståle Solbakken, who represented the club as a midfielder at the end of a career which took in spells at Lillestrøm SK, Wimbledon FC and Aalborg BK. He won two Danish titles as a player and last season picked up his third since becoming a coach in 2006, making five in total.

• Sparta coach Jozef Chovanec represented the club for most of his playing career, and was appointed coach for the fourth time in 2009, having also been serving as the club's chairman. He has also led the Czech national team, steering them to UEFA EURO 2000™ without dropping a point in qualifying.

• Chovanec has been involved in all of Sparta's games against Danish sides: he played in the 1984/85 European Champion Clubs' Cup second-round tie against Lyngby BK, was coach against Silkeborg IF in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup and club chairman when they took on Odense BK two seasons ago in the same competition.

• Chovanec also played against Denmark for Czechoslovakia in two draws and a 1-0 away win. As Czech Republic coach, his side beat Denmark 2-0 at UEFA EURO 2000™ then drew 0-0 at home and lost 2-1 away in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

• København's Czech right-back Zdeněk Pospěch joined the club in 2008 following a spell at Sparta.

• Team-mate and countryman Libor Sionko was also a Sparta player, winning three titles and a Czech Cup between 1999 and 2004.

• FCK visit PSV on Matchday 3, while Sparta host CFR on the same night, 22 October.