Köln v Crvena zvezda background

Köln will look to maintain their unbeaten home record against Serbian sides as they come up against Crvena zvezda for the first time in nearly 28 years in UEFA Europa League Group H.

Previous meetings
• In their only previous meetings, Christoph Daum's Köln overcame a 2-0 away deficit to eliminate Dragan Šekularac's Crvena zvezda from the 1989/90 UEFA Cup third round. The German club won 3-0 in Cologne with the visitors' Miloš Drižić sent off after just four minutes and the home side's Uwe Rahn dismissed at the death. Crvena zvezda went on to win the European Cup the following season, making Köln the last team to beat them before that triumph.

• The teams for that last Cologne meeting on 6 December 1989 were:
Köln: Illgner, Higl, Greiner (Britz 75), Giske, Steiner, Janssen (Rahn 46), Hässler, Sturm, Götz, Littbarski, Ordenewitz.
Crvena zvezda: Zvonko Milojević, Jurić, Marović, Kantlarovski (Radinović 60), Drižić, Najdoski, Prosinečki, Savićević, Lukić (Mrkela 82), Stojković, Stošić.

• Köln's record in four games against Serbian sides is W2 L2.

• Crvena zvezda's 29 games against German sides have ended W12 D4 L13.

Form guide
• Köln's last home game in this competition was a 2-0 UEFA Cup first round success against Celtic in September 1992 – they lost the return leg 3-0.

• Crvena zvezda's last European away win beyond the qualifying phases came ten years ago: a 1-0 UEFA Cup first round success at Groclin on 20 September 2007, Dušan Basta getting the winner.

• Runners-up in the two-legged 1986 UEFA Cup final, Köln are back in Europe for the first time in 20 years; their only previous group campaigns were in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

• Second in Serbia last term, and losing UEFA Cup finalists in 1978/79, Crvena zvezda last reached the group stage in 2007/08, losing all four matches.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Belgrade to Cologne is around 1,200km.

• Köln's Serbian midfielder Miloš Jojić started his career with Crvena zvezda's local rivals Partizan.

• Crvena zvezda' s Filip Stojković (1860 München 2016–17) and Vujadin Savić (Dynamo Dresden 2012–13, Arminia Bielefeld 2014) have played club football in Germany.

• Crvena zvezda are one of three teams to have made it all the way from the first qualifying round to the group stage this season, along with Skënderbeu and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

• Crvena zvezda's Richmond Boakye was the joint top scorer in UEFA Europa League qualifying this season with seven goals – level with Trakai's Maksim Maksimov.

The coaches
• Peter Stöger has guided Köln back into Europe for the first time in 20 years. A four-time league champion – and 65-times capped international – as a player in his native Austria, he moved to Köln after steering Austria Wien to the 2012/13 title.

• Vladan Milojević returned to Crvena zvezda in June 2017, having played for the club in 1996. He spent much of his playing career in Greece with Panathinaikos and Iraklis, and headed back there as coach of Panionios from 2016–17.