Sturm need to turn tables on Greens

SK Sturm Graz need a win to revive their UEFA Europa League knockout phase hopes, with Matchday 3's 1-0 loss at Panathinaikos FC meaning a similar result would put the Austrian side out should Galatasaray AŞ collect at least a point at FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti.

Previous meetings
• The two teams met in the second group stage of the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League, with Ivica Osim's Sturm winning 2-0 in Austria and 2-1 against Angelos Anastasiadis' charges in Athens.

• The teams for the meeting in Austria on 14 February 2001 were:-
Sturm: Sidorczuk, Neukirchner, Schupp, Vastić, Korsós, Prilasnig, Schopp (Ibertsberger, 79), Minavandchal, Kocijan (Szabics, 90), Yuran (Haas*, 56), Fleurquin.
Panathinaikos: Nikopolidis, Henriksen, Olivares (Boateng, 53), Goumas (Nasiopoulos, 77), Warzycha, Vokolos, Šarić, Koutsoures, Basinas, Liberopoulos, Karagounis* (Paulo Sousa, 66).

*eligible to play in this game.

• Current Sturm midfielder Peter Hlinka and coach Franco Foda were unused substitutes for the Austrian side in that game.

Match background
• Sturm have won both of their European home games against Greek sides without conceding, having also beaten AEK Athens FC 1-0 in a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup match on 6 November 1997.

• Panathinaikos have lost all three of their games in Austria, losing to Sturm's neighbours Grazer AK (2-1, 21 October 1999) as well as FK Austria Wien (2-0, 15 September 1982).

• A 1-0 loss to FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti on Matchday 1 ended a six-game unbeaten home run in Europe for Sturm.

Team facts
• German coach Franco Foda has been with Sturm for over a decade, having joined the club as a defender in 1997. The former 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart defender counts his son Sandro Foda – a midfielder – among his players at Sturm.

• Foda took on Panathinaikos as a Leverkusen player in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, with he and his colleagues winning 4-1 in Athens but losing the home leg 2-1.

• Panathinaikos trainer Henk ten Cate spent most of his playing career as a winger with Go Ahead Eagles, one of a number of Dutch clubs whom he then coached. He went on to assist Frank Rijkaard as FC Barcelona coach followed by Avram Grant as Chelsea FC manager either side of a spell at the AFC Ajax helm (2006/07).

• Ten Cate faced Austrian opposition in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage, with his Ajax side beating Austria Wien 3-0 at home.

• Panathinaikos's Cédric Kanté and Sturm's Mario Haas were team-mates at RC Strasbourg from 1999 to 2001.

• Along with Sturm's Austrian rivals FC Salzburg, Panathinaikos were penalised for offside more times in the first three games than any other side – 18.

• Panathinaikos visit Galatasaray on Matchday 5, with Sturm travelling to face Dinamo on the same day, 3 December.