Dynamo out to rein in Rapid

Needing a point to progress, FC Dynamo Kyiv will look to get the better of SK Rapid Wien once more when the sides meet for the eighth time in a decisive UEFA Europa League Group G fixture.

• Rapid come to Ukraine trailing second-placed Dynamo by a point and can only make it to the round of 32 with a win in Kyiv. They would finish bottom of the section if they lose and FC Thun beat KRC Genk.

Previous meetings
• On matchday two, Christopher Trimmel headed a 94th-minute goal to secure a 2-2 draw between these teams. Andriy Yarmolenko's strike and a Christopher Dibon own goal had given Dynamo a 2-0 lead at half-time, but Guido Burgstaller's effort (53) sparked a comeback.

• Of the clubs' previous three two-legged ties, Dynamo have won two to Rapid's one. In terms of individual games it is even, with Dynamo's record reading W3 D1 L3 (W2 D0 L1 in Ukraine - W1 D1 L2 in Vienna), with the Austrian outfit unbeaten in their last four matches 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 men 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 Barisic 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
• Dynamo's overall record in 13 games against Austrian sides reads W8 D2 L3 (W4 D1 L1 at home – W4 D1 L2 in Austria). Rapid are the only Austrian team to have beaten them in a UEFA club competition game.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Team facts
• Dynamo attacking midfielder Yarmolenko has had more shots on target than any other player in the group stage, 13, from which he has scored four goals.

• Dynamo goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy has made 124 appearances in UEFA club competitions – the highest total in this season's group stage.

• Dynamo's Austrian international central defender Aleksandar Dragović can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance on matchday six. Born in Vienna, he 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 Croatia midfielder Domagoj Vida and Rapid's Thanos Petsis were on the books at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2010/11 season, though the latter spent the campaign out on loan.

Coach information
• 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.

• Barisic'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 claimed three titles at FC Tirol Innsbruck. He returned to the Rapid youth ranks to start his coaching career.