AEK look to stop the rot against Hajduk

AEK Athens FC have had a tendency to finish bottom of their section in previous group stage appearances so will be eager to get points on the board against HNK Hajduk Split to avoid a similar fate in UEFA Europa League Group G.

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

• AEK's four previous games against Croatian sides ended W3 D0 L1 (W2 D0 L0 at home).

• Hajduk fared less well in their four games against Greek clubs, with the record W1 D2 L1 (W0 D1 L1 away).

Match background
• AEK have not won in three European home games since beating SL Benfica 1-0 in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• In their three previous appearances in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Cup group stages, AEK have only once avoided finishing bottom of their section, reaching the round of 32 in 2007/08 after coming third in Group C.

• UEFA Europa League group stage debutants Hajduk have won only one of their last 13 European away games, beating Malta's Birkirkara FC 3-0 in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first qualifying round.

Team facts
• A fine striker for both his hometown club FK Velež and AEK, Dušan Bajević is in his third spell as the Athens club's coach, having won four Greek titles and a national cup in his first before controversially joining Olympiacos FC. A Yugoslavian international, Bajević won two titles and a Greek Cup as an AEK player in the late 1970s and has also coached PAOK FC, FK Crvena Zvezda and Aris Thessaloniki FC.

• Bajević faced Hajduk with Velež in his last game as a player on 17 August 1983.

• Hired for his third spell as Hajduk boss in early 2010, Stanko Poklepović played for and coached his current side's neighbours RNK Split before first becoming Hajduk coach in 1984. Since then, he has led a host of clubs from the former Yugoslavia as well as the Croatia and Iran national selections, APOEL FC in Cyprus, Ferencvárosi TC in Hungary and a clutch of Iranian teams.