BATE Borisov v Köln background

BATE Borisov will look to keep a first clean sheet in Europe this season as they welcome a Köln side who have yet to pick up a UEFA Europa League Group H point.

Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the first time, and it is Köln's first exposure to Belarusian opposition.

• BATE's six games against German clubs have ended W3 D1 L2 (W2 D1 in Belarus).

Form guide
• BATE have conceded in every European game they've played this season, UEFA Champions League qualifying included; their record in four UEFA home matches in 2017/18 is W1 D2 L1.

• Köln have lost their last three UEFA games – two in Group H and one in the 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

• Belarusian champions BATE qualified for the group stage by overcoming Ukrainian side Olexandriya in the UEFA Europa League play-offs – having lost to Slavia Praha on away goals in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

• 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.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Cologne to Borisov is around 1,500km.

• BATE's Jurica Buljat (Energie Cottbus 2013–14) and Vitali Rodionov (Freiburg 2009) both played in Germany.

• Misses next match if booked: Stanislav Dragun (BATE).

The coaches
• Aleksandr Yermakovich has been on the staff at BATE since joining as a midfielder in 1998. He won Belarusian titles as both player and assistant coach to Viktor Goncharenko – since supplemented by four championships after he took sole command in 2013.

• 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.