Plzeň face mammoth Lyon mission

FC Viktoria Plzeň need to produce some UEFA Europa League magic as they take on Olympique Lyonnais, trailing 4-1 from the away leg of their round of 16 tie.

• Jan Kovařík scored inside two minutes for the visitors, but Gueïda Fofana (12, 70), Alexandre Lacazette (53) and Arnold Mvuemba (61) all found the target to put Lyon into a comfortable lead.

• Plzeň have recovered from losing the opening leg of a European tie once before, eliminating KSC Lokeren OV on away goals after following up a 2-1 loss in Belgium in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League play-offs with a 1-0 win at home.

Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in UEFA competition in the first leg, Plzeň's first encounter with French opponents.

• Lyon's seven games against Czech opponents have ended W4 D2 L1 (W1 D1 L1 in the Czech Republic).

• This will be the 51st meeting between French and Czech clubs in UEFA competition. The French sides have had the better of the first 50, with the record W20 D15 L15 (W5 D7 L13 in the Czech Republic).

Match background
• Plzeň beat 2009 UEFA Cup winners FC Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 on aggregate in the last 32 and are in the round of 16 for the second season in succession. Last term they lost to Fenerbahçe SK at this stage.

• Plzeň have won only one of their last four European home fixtures (W1 D1 L2).

• Lyon's round of 32 success against FC Chornomorets Odesa was their first springtime European triumph in three seasons since reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2009/10; they went out in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 in 2010/11 and 2011/12 and lost to Tottenham Hotspur FC in the last 32 of this competition in 2012/13.

• Lyon came through the UEFA Europa League group stage unbeaten (W3 D3), but averaged just one goal per match. They are nevertheless unbeaten in four European away games, conceding just two goals (W1 D3).

Team facts
• Lyon are the most fouled side left in the competition, with 135 incursions against them – six more than their nearest rivals, ACF Fiorentina.

• Plzeň are among five domestic champions in the round of 16, along with FC Basel 1893 (Switzerland), Juventus (Italy), PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria) and FC Porto (Portugal).

• Lyon are one of four qualifiers from the group stage who remain unbeaten after nine games, the others being ACF Fiorentina, FC Salzburg and AZ Alkmaar.

Coach information
• Pavel Vrba stepped down as Plzeň coach at the end of 2013 to take charge of the Czech national team.

• Dušan Uhrin Jr now leads Plzeň. The 46-year-old son of celebrated Czech coach Dušan Uhrin, he had his playing career ruined by injury but thrived as a coach at Bohemians 1905 and FK Mladá Boleslav before heading abroad to lead FC Timişoara and AEL Limassol FC, then winning a domestic double in Georgia with FC Dinamo Tbilisi in 2012/13.

• 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, with whom he won 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.

Shoot-out record
• Lyon have lost both of their UEFA competition penalty shoot-outs:
3-4 (away) v APOEL FC, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League round of 16
2-4 (away) v PSV Eindhoven, 2004/05 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals

• Plzeň have yet to be involved in a UEFA shoot-out.