Rijeka eager to tear into Lyon

HNK Rijeka's UEFA Europa League dreams hang by a thread as they prepare for a rematch with unbeaten Olympique Lyonnais in Croatia in Group I.

Previous meetings
• Rijeka had scored 14 goals without reply in their previous two domestic fixtures going into matchday three, but could find no response in their first game against a French side after Clément Grenier put Lyon ahead on 65 minutes.

• Lyon's only previous games against Croatian opposition were a pair of 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage meetings with GNK Dinamo Zagreb; they beat the Modri 2-0 at home and then recorded their biggest ever away win (7-1) in the return fixture despite trailing after 40 minutes in Zagreb.

• Croatian clubs are without a victory in their last 12 games against French counterparts in UEFA competition (D3 L9), since NK Slaven Koprivnica recorded a pair of 1-0 wins against SC Bastia in the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Match background
• Rijeka sealed a first ever UEFA group stage campaign with an unexpected aggregate victory against VfB Stuttgart in this season's play-offs.

• Rijeka suffered their heaviest European defeat when they went down 4-0 at Vitória SC on matchday one, but they remain unbeaten in four continental home games this season (W3 D1).

• UEFA Champions League regulars, Lyon made their debut in the UEFA Europa League group stage last season having not played in the competition since 2002/03. They reached the round of 32 with the highest points tally of the season – 16 – but lost out to Tottenham Hotspur FC 3-2 on aggregate.

• A 1-1 draw at home against Guimarães on matchday two did have one positive for Lyon: Maxime Gonalons' goal ended a barren spell in front of goal in Europe that had encompassed their previous three games. They have scored just once in three continental away fixtures this season.

Team facts
• Rijeka midfielder Nikola Pokrivač played for Dinamo in both legs of Lyon's only previous meetings with Croatian opposition. Right-back Ivan Tomečak also featured in the Stade de Gerland part of that 2011/12 UEFA Champions League tie. He was not involved in the return fixture, but Rijeka team-mate Mehmed Alispahić was.

• Pokrivač is the only Rijeka player with Ligue 1 experience – he represented AS Monaco FC from winter 2008 to summer 2009, scoring twice in 32 league games. He featured in a draw and two defeats against Lyon.

Coach information
• Hired in February 2013, Slovenian coach Matjaž Kek led Rijeka to a third-placed finish at the end of last season and into Europe. Famous for taking Slovenia to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals, Kek started and ended his playing career as a defender at NK Maribor – where his father played, and now his son – either side of a long spell in Austria. He returned home to Maribor for his first coaching roles, and more recently had a spell in Saudi Arabia with al-Ittihad.

• Rémi Garde has spent much of his career with Lyon, taking over as first-team coach in June 2011. As a defensive midfielder, he captained Les Gones and won six caps for France, ending his career with spells at RC Strasbourg and Arsenal FC, who he helped to win the 1997/98 English double. After a spell as a pundit he joined Lyon's coaching staff, and was assistant to Paul Le Guen and Gérard Houllier before taking charge of the club's training centre and subsequently becoming head coach.