Wolfsburg v Krasnodar background

VfL Wolfsburg secured their first UEFA Europa League Group H victory at FC Krasnodar last time out and will look for three more points as the sides meet again in Germany.

Form guide
• Krasnodar's 4-2 loss to Wolfsburg on matchday three was their first home defeat in five UEFA club competition home games, and the Wolves' biggest away win in the UEFA Europa League.

• Wolfsburg have yet to lose a UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League group stage home game (W2 D1); their only UEFA Europa League home defeats to date have come in the spring phase of the competition. They have won both of their previous European home matches against Russian sides.

• European debutants Krasnodar are yet to win a group stage fixture.

Trivia and links
• Wolfsburg's Croatian striker Ivica Olić knows Russian football well having represented PFC CSKA Moskva from 2003 to 2007, winning three league titles, two Russian Cups and the UEFA Cup in 2005.

• Krasnodar are one of only four teams in the group stage who started out in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round along with Asteras Tripolis FC, FC Dinamo Minsk and HNK Rijeka.

• Krasnodar's neighbours FC Kuban Krasnodar reached the UEFA Europa League group stage as European debutants last season; it took them until matchday five to record their first – and only – group stage victory.

The coaches
• At one stage a lower-league midfielder and trainee policeman, Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking is back in Europe for the first time since leading second-tier TSV Alemannia Aachen into the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage. More recently, he has coached Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nürnberg, taking up his current post in December 2012.

• Krasnodar coach Oleg Kononov was a journeyman player who established his reputation as a coach by helping FC Sheriff win three Moldovan league titles while serving as an assistant between 2005 and 2008. He steered FC Karpaty Lviv into the UEFA Europa League in 2010/11, and took charge at Krasnodar in 2013.