Genk out to put an end to Anji

KRC Genk and FC Anji Makhachkala resume at 0-0 in their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie following a goalless draw in Russia last Thursday.

Previous meetings
• Anji had the better chances in the opening fixture, played at the Saturn Stadium in Ramenskoye, but ended with ten men following Ilya Maksimov's 89th-minute dismissal. It was the sides' first European meeting and Anji's first encounter with Belgian opponents.

• Genk's only game against a Russian team prior to that ended in a 3-2 defeat by FC Dinamo Moskva in the 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup group stage.

• The first leg was the 40th fixture between Russian and Belgian clubs in UEFA competition, with the Russian sides boasting the better record in those fixtures – W20 D6 L14 (W14 D3 L4 in Russia – W6 D3 L10 in Belgium).

Match background
• Genk made it through the UEFA Europa League group stage unbeaten for the second consecutive season (W3 D3 in 2012/13, W4 D2 this term), but will look to avoid history repeating itself having lost 12 months ago in the round of 32 to VfB Stuttgart.

• Anji made it through the UEFA Europa League group stage at the first attempt under Guus Hiddink last season, losing to Newcastle United FC in the round of 16 after beating Hannover 96 at this stage.

• Anji and NK Maribor are the only sides to have made it through this season's group stage with a negative goal difference – -3 in both cases.

• Anji scored just four goals in Group K; of the other teams that qualified, only Real Betis Balompié (with three goals in Group I) registered fewer.

Team facts
• Genk playmaker Fabien Camus turns 29 the morning after the game.

• Genk twice competed in the UEFA Champions League (in 2002/03 and 2011/12), but are yet to win a game in the spring phase of a UEFA competition.

• Anji come into this encounter as the bottom side in the Russian top division, without a win in 19 Premier League games in 2013/14. The club sold most of their prize assets last summer, including Samuel Eto'o, Willian and a player well-known in Belgium, former KAA Gent and RSC Anderlecht midfielder Mbark Boussoufa.

Coach information
• Genk dismissed their coach Mario Been on Monday after a run of poor league results. The former Feyenoord midfielder had been in charge since 2011, guiding Genk to the 2012/13 Belgian Cup.

• Emilio Ferrera has been appointed Been's successor until the end of the season, with a further one-year option. The 46-year-old, whose name betrays his Spanish roots, ended a three-year spell at al-Shabab FC in January, first as assistant to Michel Preud'homme before taking the reins in September. He has also had spells coaching in Greece and Mexico.

• A major footballing figure in his native Dagestan, Gadzhi Gadzhiev returned for a fourth spell as Anji boss in summer 2013. A player for FC Spartak Leningrad, he has coached in Azerbaijan and Japan and worked as assistant to Anatoliy Byshovets during his spells in charge of the USSR/CIS and Russia, embarking on the first of his adventures with Anji in 1999.

Shoot-out record
• Genk won their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out, goalkeeper László Köteles making two saves in a 4-1 home success against Maccabi Haifa FC in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League play-offs.

• Anji are yet to have a UEFA tie settled on penalties.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will meet FC Slovan Liberec or AZ Alkmaar in the round of 16, playing the second leg at home.

• Genk have yet to encounter either of their potential opponents.

• Anji have never met Liberec, but overcame AZ in last season's UEFA Europa League play-offs, winning 1-0 in Moscow and 5-0 in Alkmaar: Anji's biggest continental away victory and AZ's heaviest European home defeat.