Lech v Fiorentina background

KKS Lech Poznań will look to complete an unlikely Group I double over ACF Fiorentina in Jan Urban's first UEFA Europa League home game as the Railwaymen's coach.

Previous meetings
• Maciej Gajos scored the decisive goal as Lech surprised Fiorentina 2-1 in Italy on matchday three in the teams' maiden UEFA meeting. It was Lech's first victory in five games against Italian sides (W1 D3 L1).

• Fiorentina had won both of their previous fixtures against Polish opponents by a two-goal margin, beating RTS Widzew Łódź 3-1 at home and 2-0 away in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

Form guide
• Fiorentina's 4-0 triumph at Os Belenenses on matchday two equalled their biggest margin of victory away from home in UEFA competition.

• Lech progressed to the round of 32 in their two previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage participations.

• Fiorentina have made it through to the round of 32 in all three of their UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Florence to Poznan is around 1,050km.

• The game is taking place the day after Lech forward Szymon Pawłowski's 29th birthday.

• Fiorentina's on-loan Poland midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski started his career at KS Częstochowa before moving on to Lech's domestic rivals Wisła Kraków in 2005. He reportedly went on trial with Lech as a youngster but was not offered a contract. He joined the Viola on a temporary basis in the summer after eight years at Borussia Dortmund.

• Lech are one of ten sides in the group stage who qualified for Europe this season as domestic champions, along with KF Skenderbëu (Albania), Qarabağ FK (Albania), APOEL FC (Cyprus), FC Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic), FC Midtjylland (Denmark), FK Partizan (Serbia), Molde FK (Norway), Celtic FC (Scotland) and FC Basel 1893 (Switzerland).

The coaches
• Jan Urban replaced Maciej Skorża in the run-up to matchday three with the Polish champions bottom of the Ekstraklasa. Former Poland striker Urban won three national titles as a player and two more as Legia Warszawa coach.

• A European champion as a player with Juventus (1996) and Dortmund (1997), erstwhile Portugal midfielder Paulo Sousa joined Fiorentina in June and is on the hunt for a third title in as many seasons, having won the 2013/14 Israeli crown with Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC and the Swiss Super League last term with Basel.