Liberec up for second Sevilla instalment

FC Slovan Liberec welcome Sevilla FC for the second time in UEFA Europa League Group H, with the visitors hoping to follow a similar course to final glory as they did after the teams first met.

Previous meetings
• The sides met in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage, Vítězslav Lavička's Slovan holding Juande Ramos's Sevilla to a 0-0 draw in the Czech Republic, with the Spanish side going on to win the competition for a second successive season.

• The teams for that one-off encounter on 19 October 2006 were:
Slovan: M Čech, Zápotočný, Bílek, Hodúr (Ančic 76), Pospěch, Koštál, Janů, Šinglár, Papoušek (Hochmeister 86), Pudil (Frejlach 74), Holenda.
Sevilla: Palop, Navarro, Daniel Alves, Duda (Jesuli 81), Renato, Kanouté, Escudé, Martí, Dragutinović, Sales (Poulsen 66), Kepa (Luís Fabiano 46).

• Current Slovan goalkeeper Zbyněk Hauzr was an unused substitute in this match.

Match background
• Liberec failed to make it through to the round of 32 in their only previous group stage appearance in 2006/07.

• Liberec are unbeaten in seven European games (W5 D2) since starting the season with a 2-1 loss at Skonto FC in the second qualifying round.

• Sevilla have made it to this stage for the sixth time since the advent of the UEFA Cup group stage in 2004/05. They have only once failed to get through to the round of 32, in 2008/09.

• A 2-0 win against SC Freiburg on matchday two means Sevilla have won all six of their games since entering this season's competition in the third qualifying round. They have scored 13 times in their three continental away fixtures this season.

Team facts
• Seville is the only city to have two representatives in this season's competition, with neighbours Real Betis Balompié in Group I.

• Sevilla are one of five teams in the group stage who have won this competition before, along with Valencia CF (2004), Eintracht Frankfurt (1980), PSV Eindhoven (1978) and fellow two-time winners Tottenham Hotspur FC (1972, 1984). The man who led them to their 2006 and 2007 triumphs, Juande Ramos, is also in this season's group stage as coach of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Coach information
• Hired in June 2011, Jaroslav Šilhavý led Liberec to the Czech title in his first season at the club; it was his first major title, with the coach having gained experience on the national team staff, and by taking charge of SK Kladno, home-town club Viktoria Plzeň and Dynamo České Budějovice. As a defender, he played a Czech record 465 league games for Plzeň, RH Cheb, Slavia Praha, Petra Drnovice and FK Viktoria Žižkov.

• Sevilla coach since January 2013, Unai Emery started out as a midfielder at Real Sociedad de Fútbol, but was to play the bulk of his career in Spain's second division, switching from playing to coaching at Lorca Deportiva CF after a serious knee injury. Having led UD Almería to the top tier, he coached Valencia CF from 2008 to 2012, with his side regular European contenders during that spell. More recently he had a brief spell at FC Spartak Moskva.