Club Brugge hope for fresh start
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Article summary
Club Brugge KV prepare to face Slovenia's NK Maribor in their Group H opener knowing they must improve their home record if they are to have a successful UEFA Europa League campaign.
Article top media content
Article body
Club Brugge KV will look to put a disappointing 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage campaign behind them as they welcome Slovenia's NK Maribor in their Group H opener.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in Europe.
• Club Brugge won their only previous games against Slovenian opponents comfortably, beating ND Gorica 5-3 away and 3-0 at home in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup second qualifying round.
• Maribor took on Belgian opponents in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, winning 5-1 against KRC Genk in Slovenia and progressing despite a 3-0 loss in Belgium.
Match background
• Brugge won both of their home games in qualifying comfortably, but failed to secure a single win at home in last season's group stage, drawing the first and losing the remaining two.
• The Belgian side's overall record in 12 UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League home games is W3 D5 L4.
• Maribor are the first Slovenian side to reach the UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League group stage. They previously became their nation's first representatives in the UEFA Champions League in 1999/2000, picking up four points and finishing bottom of their section.
Team facts
• Brugge midfielder Fries Deschilder celebrates his 19th birthday on the day of the match. He made his European debut for the club in a 1-0 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round defeat at FK Qarabağ earlier in the campaign.
• The two clubs have a player in common; midfielder Nastja Čeh left Maribor for Club Brugge in 2001. He won two titles with both clubs, leaving Club Brugge in 2005.
• Maribor coach Darko Milanič started his career as a defender with FK Partizan, moving on to SK Sturm Graz and representing both Yugoslavia and Slovenia internationally. Hired to coach Maribor in 2008, he has now won two league titles and one Slovenian Cup.
• Club Brugge's Dutch boss Adrie Koster played for Roda JC and PSV Eindhoven before moving into coaching. He led AFC Ajax for a while after a spell running their youth team and took over as boss at the Jan Breydelstadion in 2009.
