Salzburg v Real Sociedad background

UEFA Europa League regulars Salzburg entertain round of 32 first-timers Real Sociedad buoyed by a late equaliser in the first leg that earned them a 2-2 draw and preserved their unbeaten European record this season. The Spanish side, making their first appearance in Europe for three years, are the top scorers in this season’s competition with 18 goals.

• The Austrian club are competing in the knockout phase of this competition for the fifth time, having conceded just one goal and remained unbeaten in topping Group I. It was the fourth time they had won a UEFA Europa League group – a competition record.

Previous meetings
• An eventful first leg at the Anoeta ended with honours even courtesy of Japanese striker Takumi Minamino's added-time strike for Salzburg. The visitors had opened the scoring on 27 minutes through Mikel Oyarzabal's own goal, but second-half strikes from Álvaro Odriozola and Adnan Januzaj turned the match in favour of Real Sociedad – in their first fixture against Austrian opposition –until Minamino's late intervention.

• Salzburg's record in 13 games against Spanish teams is W3 D2 L8. They have lost their last two home games against Liga sides, most recently in the 2014/15 round of 32 – the last time they reached this stage – when Villarreal defeated them 3-1 in Austria to complete a 5-2 aggregate triumph.

Form guide
• Salzburg came undefeated through a UEFA Europa League group for a record fourth time. They are unbeaten in their last 16 European matches (W9 D7), since a 1-0 defeat at home to Nice on matchday three of last season's UEFA Europa League.

• Salzburg's concession of just one goal in the group stage equalled another UEFA Europa League record, set by Standard Liège in 2011/12, although the seven goals they scored amounted to the lowest number registered by any of this season's 12 group winners.

• The Austrian club have kept clean sheets in six of their last seven European home games (W5 D2), the only goal conceded in that time – to Rijeka in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round – eliminating them from that competition on the away goals rule.

• Salzburg have won only one of their four home games in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 – and that was on the only occasion they have progressed, a 3-1 win against Ajax in 2013/14 completing a 6-1 aggregate success. They have lost three of their last four home games in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase.

• Real Sociedad are bidding to make it three UEFA Europa League away wins in succession, having beaten Vardar 6-0 and Rosenborg 1-0 in the group stage after an earlier 3-1 loss at Zenit.

• The Basque club were the second highest scorers in this season's group stage, registering 16 goals. Only Zenit, with 17, outscored them; however, with the Russian side drawing a blank at Celtic last week, La Real have now displaced them as the competition's top-scoring team.

• Austrian league and cup double winners for the past four seasons, and 1994 UEFA Cup runners-up, Salzburg missed the cut in last year's UEFA Europa League group stage – after succeeding in their previous three attempts. They have never gone beyond the last 16 in seven previous UEFA Europa League participations.

• Although Real Sociedad played in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2003/04 and 2013/14, this is the San Sebastian side's debut campaign in the UEFA Europa League proper. They qualified directly by finishing sixth in last season's Spanish Liga.

• Salzburg have won two and lost two of the four UEFA competition ties in which they have drawn the away leg first, the most recent instance a 2016/17 UEFA Champions League play-off defeat to Dinamo Zagreb (1-1 away, 1-2 aet home). On the only occasion that they have drawn 2-2 away in the first leg, in the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round against Twente, they prevailed thanks to a 3-1 home win.

• Real Sociedad have been eliminated from UEFA competition on each of the two occasions that they have obtained a score draw in the home first leg (both games finished 1-1), although they were successful the one time they drew the first leg 0-0 in San Sebastian.

UEFA Europa League squad changes
• Salzburg
In: Enock Mwepu, André Ramalho, Dominik Szoboszlai
Out: David Atanga, Paulo Miranda, Marc Rzatkowski, Stefan Stangl, Samuel Tetteh

• Real Sociedad
In: Jon Guridi, Héctor Moreno, Luca Sangalli
Out: Iñigo Martínez, Martín Merquelanz, Pablo Sisniega, Carlos Vela

Links and trivia
• Salzburg won last season's UEFA Youth League, beating Benfica in the final under Marco Rose – now in charge of the senior side.

• This season Salzburg became the first club to win their UEFA Europa League group on four occasions. Eleven others have achieved the feat three times.

• This is Salzburg's 54th UEFA Europa League match, group stage to final; only Spanish clubs Villarreal (61) and Athletic Club (58) have played more.

• Real coach Eusebio Sacristán played twice for Barcelona against Austria Wien in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League, winning both matches (3-0 home, 2-1 away).

• Real Sociedad had the best disciplinary record in the competition during the group stage, incurring just two yellow cards in the six matches. However, five of their players were cautioned in the first leg against Salzburg, who also had six players yellow-carded.

• In addition to being the top-scoring team in the competition, La Real lead the way with most goal attempts (121) and most possession (66%), while Sergio Canales, an unused substitute in the first leg, continues to head the assists chart with five – one more than, among others, team-mate Xabi Prieto.

• Duje Ćaleta-Car (Salzburg) serves a one-match suspension.

• Suspended for next game if booked: Hwang Hee-Chan (Salzburg).

Penalty shoot-outs
• Salzburg's record in two UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L1:
5-4 v Eintracht Frankfurt, 1993/94 UEFA Cup quarter-final
2-3 v Dinamo Minsk, 2015/16 UEFA Europa League play-off

• Real Sociedad have lost both their UEFA penalty shoot-outs:
2-4 v Stuttgart, 1988/89 UEFA Cup quarter-final
3-4 v Partizan, 1990/91 UEFA Cup second round

The coaches
• Previously Salzburg's youth team boss, Marco Rose stepped up to the senior helm after predecessor Óscar García left in June, having led the club to victory in the 2016/17 UEFA Youth League. A defender with home-town club Leipzig, Hannover and Mainz, he has been on Salzburg's coaching staff since 2013.

• Real Sociedad boss since November 2015 when he replaced Scotsman David Moyes, 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, where he played from 1988 to 1995 after earlier spells with Valladolid and Atlético Madrid. He also served at the Camp Nou as assistant coach and B team boss.