Leipzig v Celtic background

With three points apiece from their opening two games in the section, Leipzig and Celtic meet at the RB Arena in a pivotal UEFA Europa League Group B fixture.

• Both clubs have recorded a victory against Rosenborg and a defeat against Salzburg, with Leipzig having lost their opening home game (2-3) and Celtic their first one on the road (1-3).

Previous meetings
• The two teams have never met in UEFA competition, with Leipzig yet to face Scottish opponents.

• Celtic have won only three of their 22 matches against German opposition (D5 L14) and none of the 11 in Germany (D3 L8), where they have scored just four goals. Two of their last three visits, however, have resulted in draws, including their only previous UEFA Europa League encounter in the country – 0-0 at Hamburg in the 2009/10 group stage.

Form guide
Leipzig
• Leipzig finished sixth in the 2017/18 Bundesliga to make it two European qualifications in a row, their debut continental campaign having ended in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals – eliminated by Marseille – after they finished third in their UEFA Champions League group.

• Having defeated Häcken of Sweden and Romania's Universitatea Craiova in the first two qualifying rounds this season, Leipzig needed a last-gasp penalty from Emil Forsberg to win their play-off 3-2 on aggregate against Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk.

• That successful spot kick enabled Leipzig to prolong their winning run at home in Europe to five matches, but that sequence ended against Salzburg on matchday one. Their overall home record in Europe is now W6 D1 L3.

Celtic
• Celtic won the Scottish treble of Premiership, Scottish Cup and League Cup for the second successive season in 2017/18, but they were unable to secure a hat-trick of UEFA Champions League group stage appearances this term, their elimination of Rosenborg followed by defeat to AEK Athens. A 4-1 aggregate victory over Lithuanian champions Sūduva in the UEFA Europa League play-offs maintained Celtic's post-summer interest in Europe.

• This is Celtic's fifth season in the UEFA Europa League group stage. Three of their four previous campaigns have ended in elimination, the exception 2014/15, when they reached the round of 32. They also got to that stage of the competition last season after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group, but lost to Zenit.

• The Glasgow club have never won away from home in 13 UEFA Europa League group games (D8 L5), but they have scored in all but two of them, including each of the last nine.

Links and trivia 
• Forsberg and Celtic's Mikael Lustig are fellow Swedish internationals.

• Marvin Compper joined Celtic from Leipzig in January 2018, although his Hoops career has been severely restricted by injury.

• Odsonne Edouard (Celtic) and Dayot Upamecano (Leipzig) played together for the France side that won the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Bulgaria, with Edouard scoring a hat-trick in the final – a 4-1 victory against Germany.

• Upamecano and Jean-Kévin Augustin are team-mates of Celtic's Olivier Ntcham at Under-21 level for France.

• Leizpig winger Bruma scored past Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon in Portugal's 3-1 friendly win against Scotland in Glasgow earlier this month.

The coaches
• Ralf Rangnick returned as RB Leipzig coach in the summer of 2018, having held the position in 2015/16 when he led the club into the Bundesliga. He has been the club's sporting director since 2012, his appointment having come after a premature departure from Schalke, where he was working for the second time following a highly successful sojourn at Hoffenheim during which he secured back-to-back promotions. He is set to be replaced as Leipzig coach by current Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann in 2019.

• Celtic's Northern Irish boss Brendan Rodgers retired early as a player but made his name in management at Swansea, steering the Welsh club into England's top flight before leaving for Liverpool in June 2012. He led the Reds to a Premier League runners-up spot in 2013/14 but was dismissed in October 2015, resurfacing at Celtic, where he won the Scottish treble with an undefeated record in his first season. All three trophies were successfully defended in 2017/18, making Rodgers the first Hoops manager to win the 'Double Treble'.