St-Étienne v Mainz background

Saint-Étienne have yet to lose a UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League group stage home game – a sobering statistic for Mainz as they bid to save their Group C campaign in France.

• St Étienne qualify with a win or a 0-0 draw (as they drew 1-1 at Mainz); Mainz are out if they lose, or if they draw 0-0 and Anderlecht avoid defeat.

• Anderlecht qualify with a victory or draw if Mainz draw, or with any result if Mainz lose; Gabala are out.

Previous meetings
• Robert Berić scored an 88th-minute equaliser for the visitors as St-Étienne held Mainz to a 1-1 draw in the teams' first meeting on matchday one. It was Mainz's maiden encounter with French opposition.

• St-Étienne have lost half of their 18 matches against German sides, their record reading: W3 D6 L9 (W2 D5 L1 at home). Those fixtures include a 1-0 reverse against Bayern München in the 1976 European Cup final in Glasgow.

Form guide
• St-Étienne are unbeaten in nine European home games (W4 D5); moreover, they are yet to lose in ten UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage home fixtures (W3 D7).

• Mainz's 6-1 loss at Anderlecht on matchday four was the heaviest defeat in their UEFA competition history.

• St-Étienne have qualified in two of their previous three UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group campaigns.

• Mainz are making their UEFA Europa League group stage debut.

Links and trivia
• The journey from St-Etienne to Mainz is just shy of 600km.

• Mainz goalkeeper Jonas Lössl (Guingamp 2014–16) and defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Lens 2013–16) have both played club football in France.

• Mainz boast French talent in the form of ex-Metz left-back Gaëtan Bussmann.

• St-Étienne's Florentin Pogba is the older brother of Paul Pogba, who is also competing in this season's group stage with Manchester United.

The coaches
• St-Étienne coach since 2009, Christophe Galtier steered Les Verts to French League Cup success in 2012/13. He had worked as assistant to Alain Perrin at St-Étienne before getting the top job. Originally a defender, he started his playing career at home-town club Marseille.

• Martin Schmidt guided Mainz to an impressive sixth-place finish in the Bundesliga last season, his first in command of the senior team. A lower-league player in his native Switzerland, he managed Mainz's reserves from 2010–15.