Zenit v Real Sociedad background

Zenit take on Real Sociedad in a battle of the UEFA Europa League Group L giants, with both sides having registered club-record results on matchday one.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time.

• Zenit's 18 games against Spanish sides have ended W4 D6 L8 (W3 D5 L1 at home). The only Spanish side to beat them in St Petersburg were Real Madrid – 2-1 in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Real Sociedad's four encounters with Russian sides have ended W3 D0 L1. Most recently – in their last European campaign – they were eliminated from the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League play-offs by Krasnodar, following up a 1-0 home win with a 3-0 defeat in Russia.

Form guide
• Zenit have won their last seven home UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League group stage games since a 2-1 loss to Leverkusen in November 2014.

• Zenit's 5-0 success at Vardar on matchday one matched their biggest ever European away win.

• Real Sociedad started the group stage with their biggest UEFA home win yet – a 4-0 success against Rosenborg.

• Real Sociedad have lost four of their last five European away games: W1 L4.

• UEFA Cup winners in 2008, Zenit finished third in Russia last term; they have competed in either the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League group stage in every season since 2010/11, playing European football in the spring on each occasion.

• Although Real Sociedad played in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2003/04 and 2013/14, the San Sebastian side are making their debut at this stage of the UEFA Europa League.

Links and trivia
• The journey from San Sebastian to St Petersburg is around 2,850km.

• Zenit's Oleg Shatov is one game shy of his 50th UEFA club competition appearance.

• Zenit's Aleksandr Anyukov turns 35 on the day of the game.

• Zenit's Matías Kranevitter spent the last two seasons in Spain with Atlético Madrid (2015/16) and Sevilla (2016/17), for whom he played in a 4-0 win at Real Sociedad in January 2017.

The coaches
• Roberto Mancini took charge of Zenit in June 2017. A European Cup Winners' Cup winner as a player with Sampdoria in 1989/90 and Lazio in 1998/99, he coached Internazionale and Manchester City to league titles, and more recently claimed a Turkish Cup at Galatasaray.

• Real Sociedad boss since 2015, Eusebio Sacristán can complete a full set of major UEFA trophies this season, having won the European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup as a midfielder with Barcelona. He was also Barcelona's assistant coach and B team boss.