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PSV know their place as Rapid come calling

PSV Eindhoven cannot be denied top spot in UEFA Europa League Group C, but FC Rapid Bucureşti could move up to third place if they win and Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC fail to beat Legia Warszawa.

PSV celebrate an Eredivisie goal
PSV celebrate an Eredivisie goal ©Getty Images

Already sure to finish top of Group C, PSV Eindhoven will look to end their UEFA Europa League group stage campaign on a high against FC Rapid Bucureşti.

• Second-placed Legia Warszawa cannot deny PSV top spot, but Rapid could move up to third place if they win and Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC fail to beat Legia.

Previous meetings
• An Ola Toivonen header (89) and a cool Tim Matavž finish (90+2) saw PSV snatch a 3-1 win when the sides first met in Romania on matchday two. Dan Alexa (28) had put the home side in front, but Wilfrid Bouma (43) levelled for the Dutch side before the break.

• PSV's record in seven games against Romanian sides reads W6 D0 L1 (W3 D0 L0 in Eindhoven, where they have scored ten goals and conceded just one against Romanian sides). PSV have won their last four games against Romanian clubs since a 1-0 loss to FC Steaua Bucureşti on 18 October 1989.

• Rapid's record in five games against Dutch sides reads W1 D2 L2 (W0 D2 L0 in Netherlands, with both of those games ending 1-1). Current boss Răzvan Lucescu oversaw Rapid's only success against Dutch opposition in his first spell as the club's coach; his side eliminated Feyenoord in the first round of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup en route to the quarter-finals.

• Goalkeeper Dănuţ Coman and midfielder Nicolae Grigore also featured in that squad.

Match background
• PSV are unbeaten in Europe this season (five wins and two draws) and have not lost in 16 continental home fixtures (11 wins and five draws) since a 3-1 UEFA Champions League loss to Liverpool FC on 9 December 2008.

• Rapid are on a four-game losing streak in Group C, conceding three times in three of those matches. However, they have lost just one of their three away games in Europe this season.

Team facts
• Rapid are four goals shy of conceding their 100th goal in UEFA club competition.

• The Romanian side also need three more goals to score their 100th in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League.

• Rapid midfielder Alexandru Ioniţă turns 17 on the eve of the game; the Under-19 international has yet to make his continental club debut.

• PSV midfielder Stanislav Manolev celebrates his 26th birthday the day after the match.

• PSV boss Fred Rutten spent his entire career as a defender with FC Twente, moving on to the club's coaching staff, and taking charge from 1999 to 2001. He was then Guus Hiddink's assistant at PSV before a second spell at Twente and a season as FC Schalke 04 boss. He took charge at PSV in 2009.

• Rapid coach Lucescu played in goal for a number of Romanian clubs, including Rapid, and briefly played in Italy for AC Crema 1908 in 1992/93, while his father Mircea was coaching Serie A side Brescia Calcio. In a previous spell in charge of Rapid, he won two Romanian Cups and led them to the quarter-finals of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup and into the group stage once more the following season. He then coached Romania from 2009 to 2011.

• PSV have had two notable former Romanian internationals in their ranks: defender Gheorghe Popescu (1990-94) and midfielder Ovidiu Stângă (1996-2001).

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