Rapid Wien v Dinamo Minsk background
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Article summary
Rapid Wien are already certain of a place in the round of 32, but they will secure top spot in Group E if they better Villarreal's result against Viktoria Plzeň.
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Article body
As they welcome FC Dinamo Minsk, SK Rapid Wien trail fellow qualifiers Villarreal CF on head-to-head record in UEFA Europa League Group E and can only finish top if they pick up more points than the Spanish club on matchday six.
Previous meetings
• In their first encounter with Belarusian opponents, Rapid beat Dinamo 1-0 on matchday two.
• Dinamo's five games against Austrian teams have ended W3 D0 L2 (W1 D0 L1 in Austria).
• Dinamo eliminated FC Salzburg in this season's UEFA Europa League play-offs, prevailing on penalties in Austria after a 2-0 home win and a 2-0 away defeat.
Form guide
• Rapid have made it through to the knockout phase for the first time having fallen short in their four previous UEFA Europa League attempts.
• Dinamo Minsk have reached this stage for the second season in succession and have missed out on the round of 32 once more.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Minsk to Vienna is around 1,000km.
• Rapid midfielder Philipp Schobesberger turns 22 on the day of the Dinamo game.
• Rapid's Croatian striker Matej Jelić was the joint top scorer in UEFA Europa League qualifying this season, registering seven goals for MŠK Žilina before moving to Austria.
The coaches
• A midfielder of Croatian descent, Vienna-born Zoran Barisic played for Rapid from 1993 to 1995 and has been on the coaching staff since 2006. He has been in sole command at the club since 2013 and led them to a runners-up finish in the Austrian Bundesliga last season.
• Former FK Partizan defender Vuk Rašović has been in charge of Dinamo Minsk since the summer, having stepped up to a front-line role after a spell as the club's director of football. He had previously been on the coaching staff at Partizan and their feeder club FK Teleoptik.
