Stakes high as Salzburg meet PSG
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Article summary
FC Salzburg must beat Paris Saint-Germain FC to avoid dropping out of contention for a top-two finish in Group F, with only one of the section's round of 32 places still up for grabs.
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Nothing but victory will do for FC Salzburg as they seek to avoid elimination, with opponents Paris Saint-Germain FC only needing a point to secure their place in the round of 32.
Previous meetings
• Nenê's 35th-minute penalty set PSG on their way to a 3-1 win when the clubs first met on matchday one. Mathieu Bodmer (44) and Jérémy Menez (67) extended their lead before Ibrahim Sekagya headed Salzburg on to the scoresheet (87) in their first UEFA game against a French side.
• PSG first tackled Austrian opposition in the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Brussels, where Bruno N'Gotty's free-kick bagged Luis Fernández's team their only major UEFA honour to date in a 1-0 win against Ernst Dokupil's SK Rapid Wien.
• With Fernández back for a second spell, PSG met Rapid again in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup second round, eliminating Lothar Matthäus's side comfortably (5-0 on aggregate). Thus they have yet to lose against Austrian opposition.
Match background
• Before losing 1-0 to Athletic Club on matchday four, Salzburg had not conceded a goal in their last four European home games, recording a 0-0 draw, two 1-0 wins and a 3-0 success against ŠK Slovan Bratislava.
• PSG have only won one of their seven UEFA Europa League away games, 4-0 at FC Differdange 03 in this season's play-off round. They have yet to score in an away game in Group F - recording a 2-0 defeat at Athletic Club and a 0-0 draw against Slovan thus far.
Team facts
• PSG's next goal will be their 100th in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League; this will be their 71st game in the two competitions.
• PSG played in Austria this summer, recording victories against AS Roma and host side FC Wacker Innsbruck during a friendly tournament in Innsbruck.
• Dutchman Ricardo Moniz is now in charge at Salzburg, having stepped up from his role as skills coach to replace Huub Stevens, who was relieved of his duties in April. Moniz's only previous front-line coaching experience came in a caretaker role at Hamburger SV, but he has worked as a specialist trainer at Feyenoord, Grasshopper-Club, PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham Hotspur FC.
• PSG coach since 2009, Antoine Kombouaré was a defender for FC Nantes, PSG, FC Sion and Aberdeen FC before returning to Paris to lead PSG's reserves. He got the top job at the Parc des Princes following spells at RC Strasbourg (2003–04) and Valenciennes FC (2005–09).
