Austria Wien v Plzeň background

Austria Wien will look to keep their winning momentum going in UEFA Europa League Group E as they take on a Viktoria Plzeň side who have drawn five of their last six continental games.

Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Austria Wien's record in three encounters with Czech clubs reads W1 D1 L1 (W1 L1 at home); Plzeň's record from two fixtures against Austrian sides is W0 D0 L2 – they lost to Rapid Wien twice in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

Form guide
• Austria have won six of their seven European matches this term.

• Plzeň are currently without a victory in ten European games (D5 L5) and have drawn five of their last six UEFA fixtures – including four of their five appearances this season.

• Plžen have not won in five European away trips (D1 L4).

• Austria have failed to progress in their last four UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns since making it to the last eight in 2004/05.

• Plzeň have advanced from one of their previous two UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, reaching the round of 16 in 2012/13.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Plzen to Vienna is around 280km.

• Plzeň midfielder Milan Petržela can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance in this match.

• Austria boast Czech talent in the form of 21-year-old defender Patrizio Stronati, who was born to a Czech father and Italian mother in Italy.

• Plzeň's Martin Zeman (Admira Wacker 2011–12) has played club football in Austria.

The coaches
• A four-time Bundesliga winner as a Bayern München midfielder, Thorsten Fink has been in charge at Austria Wien since 2015. Twice a league champion in Switzerland as Basel coach between 2009 and 2011, he subsequently occupied the helm at Hamburg and APOEL.

• Roman Pivarník took the Plzeň reins this summer following a two-year stint with Prague side Bohemians. This is his first continental foray as a coach, though he notably helped Rapid Wien make the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final as a midfielder in 1996.

• Pivarník was in Austria more recently, working as Rapid's assistant coach in 2006.