Dnipro v St-Étienne background

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will be hoping for a repeat performance when they welcome AS Saint-Étienne for the second time in as many seasons in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

Previous meetings
• Dnipro drew 0-0 in France last term and then won 1-0 in Kyiv, Artem Fedetskiy scoring the only goal. That matchday six victory put Dnipro into the round of 32 and confirmed St-Étienne as the bottom side in their section.

• The teams for that encounter in Ukraine on 11 December 2014 were:
Dnipro: Boyko, Vlad, Kravchenko, Kalinić, Konoplyanka, Cheberyacko, Zozulya (Gama 67), Douglas, Shakhov (Matheus 67), Rotan (Politylo 88), Fedetskiy.
St-Étienne: Ruffier, Théophile-Catherine, Gradel, Mollo (Hamouma 60), Van Wolfswinkel, Lemoine, Pogba, Brison (Tabanou 83), Monnet-Paquet (Cohade 80), Perrin, Diomandé.

Form guide
• Dnipro are unbeaten in Group G having scored a single goal in each of their two games (W1 D1). Having played their European home matches in Kyiv last season, they are back at the Dnipro Arena – where their record in 14 UEFA fixtures is W10 D2 L2.

• St-Étienne have scored twice in each of their Group G assignments but did not win either (D1 L1).

• Dnipro have negotiated four of their previous five UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, including the last three.

• St-Étienne made it through the UEFA Cup group stage at the first attempt in 2008/09 but missed the cut last season in their first UEFA Europa League group stage tilt.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Saint-Etienne to Dnipropetrovsk is around 2,350km.

• This is Dnipro's 100th UEFA Europa League game; their previous 99 games have ended W46 D22 L31.

• Dnipro midfielders Jon Jairo Ruiz (LOSC Lille) and Léo Matos (Olympique de Marseille) have played in France.

• Dnipro's Ruslan Rotan and Roman Zozulya were involved as France beat Ukraine in the November 2013 play-offs for the FIFA World Cup finals. Ukraine won 2-0 at home but lost the return leg 3-0 in Saint-Denis.

The coaches
• Dnipro coach Myron Markevych led his side to the 2015 UEFA Europa League final in his first season at the helm. The one-time midfielder enjoyed success at home and in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League in charge of an exciting FC Metalist Kharkiv squad. He was briefly Ukraine boss in 2010.

• St-Étienne coach since 2009, Christophe Galtier led Les Verts to French League Cup success in 2012/13. A defender, he started his playing career at home-town club Marseille. He returned to OM as a coach and worked as assistant to Alain Perrin at St-Étienne before getting the senior job.