Slavia drinking in last-chance saloon

Four points adrift of the qualifying places, nothing less than a win will be good enough for SK Slavia Praha as Genoa CFC make a first trip to the Czech Republic in UEFA Europa League Group B.

• Bottom of the section with two points, Slavia can still qualify. However, a draw against Genoa would spell elimination, while lifting the Serie A outfit into the top two if leaders LOSC Lille Métropole prevail at Valencia CF in the night's other contest in the pool.

Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time on Matchday 1, with Genoa's Alberto Zapater scoring the first goal in the UEFA Europa League group stage with a fourth-minute free-kick. Genoa went on to triumph 2-0 in what was their first game against a Czech side. Slavia's five previous home fixtures against Serie A opponents have ended W3 D1 L1.

Match background
• Slavia have come out on top in only one of their last 23 European fixtures – a 3-0 home victory over FK Crvena Zvezda in this season's UEFA Europa League play-offs – with ten reverses and 12 draws in the remaining games. The win against Crvena Zvezda was their only triumph in their last eleven European home games.

• Genoa have not won in their last four European away ties, with their last UEFA club competition victory on the road a 2-1 success against Liverpool FC in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals on 18 March 1992.

Team facts
• Karel Jarolím is in his second spell as Slavia coach, having represented the club in three separate stints as a player. His two sons also started their playing careers there, with David Jarolím the current captain at Hamburger SV while Lukáš Jarolím is now in Italy with AC Siena.

• Genoa's Moroccan midfielder Houssine Kharja will not play again in Group B, having been ruled out for six months after damaging ligaments in his left knee during training on 14 October.

• Genoa coach Gian Piero Gasperini is currently enjoying his first season in European competition. The former Juventus trainee and youth-team coach joined the club in 2006 after earning his managerial spurs at FC Crotone, leading the Rossoblù to Serie A in his first campaign.

• Czech striker Tomáš Skuhravý is remembered with fondness in Genoa as one of the stars of their remarkable 1991/92 UEFA Cup campaign. The former AC Sparta Praha player's haul of 58 Serie A goals remains a post-war record for the club.

• Genoa striker Hernán Crespo has played in four UEFA Champions League games against Slavia's arch-rivals Sparta – two each with Parma FC and Chelsea FC. He did not score in any of them but nor did he finish on the losing side, recording a win and three draws.

• Slavia coach Jarolím made his competitive debut for Czechoslovakia with a brief cameo in a 2-2 UEFA European Championship preliminary-round draw against Italy at San Siro in November 1982.

• Slavia defender Matej Krajčík played in Italy for Reggina Calcio in spring this year, while Tunisian midfielder Tijani Belaid started his career as a trainee at FC Internazionale Milano.

• Slavia midfielder Vladimír Šmicer announced his retirement on 9 November at the age of 36, saying: "My heart wants to play on, but the body will not have it." The former Czech international has a new position within the national team setup. A UEFA Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005, he won three domestic titles in the course of two spells with Slavia.

• Genoa conclude their Group B campaign at home to Valencia on 17 December, when Slavia visit Lille.