Braga v Liberec background
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Article summary
Braga have twice got the better of Slovan Liberec in Europe and know a third victory would confirm their place in the round of 32 draw as the winners of Group F.
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Article body
SC Braga will secure a first-place finish in UEFA Europa League Group F if they defeat away-day specialists FC Slovan Liberec for a third time.
• Braga qualify with a win or if they draw and Marseille lose to eliminated FC Groningen.
• Slovan need to win, and for Marseille to lose, to progress on matchday five.
Previous meetings
• Rafa Silva scored on his European debut as Braga beat Liberec 1-0 in the Czech Republic on matchday one in their second encounter in UEFA competition. It was Braga's 100th UEFA game.
• The clubs first met in a 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage match when Carlos Carvalhal's Braga beat Vítězslav Lavička's Slovan 4-0 in Portugal.
• Liberec defeated Estoril Praia 2-1 home and away in their only other fixtures against Portuguese opponents, in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Form guide
• Braga have won their last four UEFA Europa League group stage home games.
• Liberec have won all four of their European away matches this season without conceding – a 3-0 followed by three 1-0s.
• Losing finalists in 2011 – when they transferred over at the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage – Braga have made it to the round of 32 in all four of their previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.
• This is Liberec's third appearance in this group stage; they fell short in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage, but advanced to the round of 32 in 2013/14.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Liberec to Braga is just over 2,050km.
• The game is taking place the day after Braga defender Ricardo Ferreira's 23rd birthday.
The coaches
• Appointed Braga coach this summer, former defender Paulo Fonseca had a low-key playing career. Having made his name in the second division as boss of CD Aves, Fonseca twice coached FC Paços de Ferreira in the top flight either side of a stint in charge of FC Porto, where he was once on the books as a player.
• Jindřich Trpišovský took control at Slovan in June. It was a major top-flight appointment for the coach, who models himself on Liverpool FC's Jürgen Klopp. Once a youth coach at AC Sparta Praha, he previously led second-division FK Viktoria Žižkov, impressing despite the club's financial problems.
