Group F's top two meet in Prague

The leading pair in Group F – and two of the highest-scoring players in the group stage – meet on Matchday 6 as AC Sparta Praha host PFC CSKA Moskva in the UEFA Europa League.

• Both sides are already certain of a place in the round of 32. CSKA will win the group, having taken maximum points from their first five fixtures, while a 2-2 draw at US Città di Palermo on Matchday 5 ensured that Sparta cannot be denied second place.

Previous meetings
• Two Seydou Doumbia goals either side of a Mark González penalty gave CSKA a 3-0 win as the clubs met for the first time on Matchday 2 in what was the Army Men's first competitive game against a Czech side.

• Sparta have now contested eight games against Russian sides, including seven against CSKA's capital rivals FC Spartak Moskva. Their record in those fixtures reads W2 D3 L3 (W2 D1 L1 in Prague). They have not lost in their last three home games against Russian clubs.

Match background
• Sparta have scored three goals in both their previous Group F home fixtures – a 3-2 win against Palermo and a 3-3 draw with FC Lausanne-Sport.

• CSKA have won all seven of their European fixtures this season, home and away, conceding three times while scoring 23 – an average of over three goals per match.

• The last time they appeared in the group stage of this competition, in 2008/09, CSKA won all their fixtures, again averaging three goals a game. However, there were just four group stage matches two seasons ago, compared to six now.

• CSKA's 5-1 Matchday 5 win against Lausanne matched their greatest margin of victory in a European game; they had previously won two other games 4-0.

Team facts
• Sparta are competing in the group stage for the fourth time in five seasons, but this is the first time they have made it through to the last 32 in that period.

• CSKA's 17 Group F goals make them the top scorers in this season's group stage, with Russian Premier-Liga rivals FC Zenit St Petersburg two goals behind them on 15. CSKA have also had more shots on goal than any other team; 44 in total.

• Twelve of those 17 goals have come after half-time and they are yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of a Group F game.

• FC Porto's Falcao is the UEFA Europa League group stage's top scorer with seven goals, leaving him two ahead of CSKA's Tomáš Necid and Sparta's Wilfried Bony, who are joint second in the rankings with five goals apiece.

• CSKA boast Czech talent in the form of striker Necid. He was born in Prague and started his career with Sparta's arch-rivals SK Slavia Praha, before moving to Moscow in 2009.

• Capped 52 times by Czechoslovakia, former midfielder Jozef Chovanec is Sparta to the core. He served the club for the bulk of his playing career and has continued his association since moving into coaching, taking charge for four separate spells as well as leading 1. FK Příbram, FC Kuban Krasnodar and the Czech Republic national team.

• CSKA coach Leonid Slutski's playing career was ended at the age of 19 by a knee injury sustained when the young goalkeeper fell from a tree trying to rescue a neighbour's cat. Having gained experience in youth coaching, he worked wonders in a three-year spell at FC Moskva before leading FC Krylya Sovetov Samara to a sixth-placed finish in 2008, and he took over at CSKA the following October.