Rapid out to extend Dynamo streak

SK Rapid Wien and FC Dynamo Kyiv meet for the seventh time in UEFA Europa League Group G, and the record books are in favour of the home side as they seek a fourth successive victory against their guests.

Previous meetings
• Rapid and Dynamo have been paired in three previous seasons, with Dynamo winning two ties to Rapid's one. In terms of individual games it is even, with Rapid's record reading W3 D0 L3 (W2 D0 L1 in Vienna – W1 D0 L2 in Ukraine), with the Austrian side now on a three-game winning streak against Dynamo.

• The sides first met in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals. Current Dynamo coach Oleh Blokhin was among the scorers as Valeriy Lobanovskiy's side won 4-1 away and 5-1 at home against Vlatko Marković's Rapid en route to winning the competition, beating Club Atlético de Madrid 3-0 in the final in Lyon.

• It was closer when they met again in the 1992/93 first round, Joszef Szabó's Dynamo getting the better of August Starek's Rapid on away goals, losing 3-2 in Vienna following a 1-0 win in Kyiv. Victor Leonenko's second goal of the second leg, on 87 minutes, pulled the rug from under Rapid.

• The Austrian side gained belated revenge on Szabó's Dynamo in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League qualifying round; current coach Zoran Barišić played in the first leg and was an unused substitute in the second as Ernst Dokupil's team won 2-0 at home and 4-2 in Kyiv.

Match background
• Rapid's only other games against Ukrainian opponents came in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, where they lost 2-0 away and won 1-0 at home against FC Metalist Kharkiv.

• Dynamo's overall record in 12 games against Austrian sides reads W8 D1 L3 (W4 D1 L1 at home – W4 D0 L2 in Austria). Rapid are the only Austrian side to have beaten them in a UEFA club competition game.

• This is Rapid's fourth attempt at the group stage of this competition, though they have yet to successfully navigate their way through to the last 32. They conceded 40 goals in the 18 games in those previous group stage campaigns.

• A 1-0 loss at FC Thun on matchday one ended a five-game unbeaten run in Europe for Rapid. They have won their last three home games in continental competition.

• This is Dynamo's third UEFA Europa League group stage campaign; they made it all the way to the quarter-finals in 2010/11 but failed to reach the last 32 the following season.

• Dynamo lost 1-0 at home to KRC Genk on matchday one. Their 3-2 win at FC Aktobe in the play-offs ended a four-game wait (D1 L3) for a European victory on the road.

Team facts
• Dynamo's Austrian international central defender Aleksandar Dragović was born in Vienna and started his career with Rapid's local rivals FK Austria Wien, with whom he won the 2008/09 Austrian Cup. His record in nine Vienna derbies against Rapid is W3 D2 L4.

• Dynamo's Croatian midfielder Domagoj Vida and Rapid's Thanos Petsis were both on the books at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2010/11 season, though the latter spent the campaign out on loan.

Coach information
• Barišić's second spell as Rapid coach commenced in spring 2013, and the midfielder has deep roots with the club. Born in Vienna but of Croatian descent, he was among the key performers as Rapid reached the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and won the Austrian title the same year, and later won three titles at FC Tirol Innsbruck. He returned to the Rapid youth ranks to start his coaching career.

• Blokhin has been coaching the club he graced as a player, Dynamo, since September 2012, stepping down as Ukraine coach for a second time after leading them out as co-hosts at UEFA EURO 2012. The European Footballer Of the Year in 1975, Blokhin won eight Soviet titles and two European Cup Winners' Cups in a glorious spell at Dynamo from 1969 to 1988. He started coaching in Greece, but returned home to help Ukraine reach the 2006 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.