PAOK v Liberec background

PAOK and Slovan Liberec know their Group J fate could be decided elsewhere as they meet on matchday six.

• Third-placed PAOK must pick up more points than Qarabağ – who have the head-to-head advantage over the Greek side – manage at home to section leaders Fiorentina. Alternatively, PAOK must win and hope Fiorentina lose by a margin of six goals or more.

• Currently fourth, Liberec are through if they win and Qarabağ lose as the Czech side would top the three-way tie-break for second spot.

Previous meetings
• Liberec were 1-0 up within 41 seconds when the teams met on matchday two, but PAOK rallied to win 2-1.

• PAOK's five games against Czech clubs have ended W3 D1 L1 (W2 D0 L0 at home).

• Liberec's only previous encounters with Greek opposition came in the third round of the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, where they drew 2-2 at home and lost 1-0 away to Panathinaikos.

Form guide
• PAOK have won just one of their last seven European home matches (W1 D4 L2) and have yet to score in Salonika in Group J.

• Liberec have yet to win a Group J fixture on the road (D1 L1).

• The Thessaloniki outfit have qualified from three of their previous six UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage forays.

• Liberec have successfully negotiated only one of their three preceding UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Liberec to Salonika is around 1,300km.

• Liberec's Jan Sýkora notched the quickest-ever goal in the UEFA Europa League on matchday one, 10.69 seconds into the game at Qarabağ.

• Slovan defender Martin Latka played in Greece for Panionios from 2009–11.

• This match takes place the day after PAOK midfielder Giannis Mystakidis's 22nd birthday.

The coaches
• Vladimir Ivić took charge at PAOK last March following a spell as the club's youth coach. An attacking midfielder, he won three Serbian titles with Partizan and played for AEK Athens and Aris Thessaloniki before a four-season PAOK stint.

• Jindřich Trpišovský assumed the Liberec helm in June 2015 and models himself on Jürgen Klopp. Once a youth coach at Sparta Praha, he previously led second-division Viktoria Žižkov, impressing despite that club's financial problems.

Chapecoense commemoration
Teams taking part in all of the matchday six UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League fixtures will observe a minute's silence to pay respect to the victims of last week's air disaster involving the Chapecoense team and accompanying delegation.

The Brazilian club lost most of their players and coaching staff in the accident, which occurred in Colombia, where Chapecoense were due to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional.

"European football is united in expressing its deepest sympathy to Chapecoense, the Brazilian Football Confederation [CBF], CONMEBOL and the families of all the victims," said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. "This tragedy has shaken the world of football, and we would like to send our support to all of those affected by it."