Liberec v Marseille background
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Article summary
Liberec will lever Marseille out of the final qualifying place in UEFA Europa League Group F if they can maintain their 100% home record against French sides.
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Article body
FC Slovan Liberec have a chance to escape from UEFA Europa League Group F as they welcome second-ranked Olympique de Marseille on matchday six.
• Liberec must beat Marseille to overtake them.
• Marseille will finish top of the group if they win and SC Braga lose due to OM's superior head-to-head record.
Previous meetings
• Liberec won 1-0 at Marseille when the teams met for the first time in UEFA competition on matchday two.
• Liberec's five fixtures against French clubs have ended W3 D1 L1 (W2 D0 L0 at home).
• Marseille's nine games against Czech sides have ended W4 D1 L4 (W0 D1 L3 away).
Form guide
• Liberec have taken just one of their seven Group F points at home.
• Marseille have won their last two matches in Group F.
• This is Liberec's third appearance in this group stage; they fell short in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup but advanced to the round of 32 in 2013/14.
• Marseille have featured in this group stage in two previous campaigns; they made it through to the 2005/06 UEFA Cup round of 32 yet missed the cut in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Marseille to Liberec is around 1,100km.
• Marseille defender Rolando can make his 50th UEFA club competition outing in this game.
The coaches
• Jindřich Trpišovský took charge at Slovan in June. It was a first major top-flight appointment for the 39-year-old, who models himself on former Borussia Dortmund boss 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.
• Míchel, 52, replaced Marcelo Bielsa as Marseille coach in August 2015. A two-time UEFA Cup winner with Real Madrid CF in the 1980s, he occupied the Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, Getafe CF and Sevilla FC helms in his native Spain and came to France after steering Olympiacos FC to two successive Greek titles.
