Juve begin title tilt against Lech

Juventus's impressive record against Polish opposition should stand them in good stead as they open their UEFA Europa League Group A campaign at home against KKS Lech Poznań.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.

• Juventus are unbeaten in seven games against Polish sides since losing 3-1 at RTS Widzew Łódź on 22 October 1980; future Juve star Zbigniew Boniek turned out for Widzew in both legs of that UEFA Cup second round tie, scoring in the second one as his side lost 3-1 but prevailed on penalties.

• Juve's record in eight games against Polish clubs reads W6 D1 L1 (W4 D0 L0 at home).

• Lech's only meeting with Italian opposition ended in a 4-3 aggregate defeat by Udinese Calcio in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32; they drew 2-2 at home, but lost 2-1 at the Friuli stadium.

Match background 
• Juventus won all four of their games in qualifying for the UEFA Europa League this term, having lost out to eventual losing finalists Fulham FC in last season's round of 16.

• The Turin side are unbeaten in four European home matches – three wins and a draw – since a 4-1 loss to FC Bayern München in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage. Their last UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League home defeat came on 7 December 1999, a 2-1 third round second-leg loss against Olympiacos FC.

• Lech have been alternating victories and defeats in their last eight European away games; unfortunately, having won 1-0 at FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on their last foreign trip, they are due a loss in Turin if the sequence continues.

Team facts
• Juventus coach Luigi Delneri represented the likes of Udinese and UC Sampdoria as a player, with the highlights of his long coaching career including marshalling AS Roma in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League, leading US Città di Palermo to the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage and finishing fourth in Serie A with Sampdoria last season. He took over at Juve in the summer.

• Lech boss Jacek Zieliński – not to be confused with the former Poland defender of the same name – had an unremarkable playing career as a midfielder, but has led some of the nation's top clubs as a coach. Hired in June 2009, he led Lech to their first Ekstraklasa title in 17 years in his first season.

• Lech have scored just seven goals in their last eight UEFA club competition games, with Zieliński's side recording three 1-0 wins, a 0-0 draw and four 1-0 defeats.