Krasnodar v Standard facts

An added-time winner enabled Standard Liège to beat Krasnodar 2-1 in Belgium in their first meeting, meaning both sides have six points from three matches – the same number as UEFA Europa League Group J rivals Sevilla.

• Standard recovered from an opening 5-1 defeat at Sevilla to beat European debutants Akhisar Belediyespor 2-1 in Liege, while Krasnodar made it two wins out of two with a famous 2-1 comeback win against the three-time UEFA Europa League winners in Russia to add to an opening 1-0 victory in Turkey. The tables were turned on the Russian side on matchday three, however, as they surrendered a lead to lose in Liege to Kostas Laifis's 93rd-minute strike.

Previous meetings
• The teams had never met until matchday three, Krasnodar's first UEFA fixture against a Belgian club.

• Standard had won only one of their previous six games against Russian opposition and were defeated home (0-1) and away (0-3) in their last such tie, a UEFA Champions League play-off against Zenit in August 2014. Les Rouches have lost on all three previous visits to Russia and are yet to score there, conceding seven goals.

Form guide
Krasnodar
• Since making their European debut in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League Krasnodar have qualified for the competition every season since, failing to make the group stage only in 2017/18, when they lost a play-off to Crvena zvezda on away goals. Fourth place in last season's Russian Premier League secured their group stage berth this term.

• Krasnodar were unable to progress from their group at the first attempt, in 2014/15, but succeeded in both of the following two seasons, lasting until the round of 32 in 2015/16 and the round of 16 in 2016/17.

• The Russian club have won four of their last five European home games, all by a one-goal margin. Their UEFA Europa League group stage record in Krasnodar is W5 D3 L2 and they have scored in all but one of those games.

Standard
• Standard enjoyed a fruitful 2017/18 season, finishing runners-up in the Belgian league and winning an eighth domestic cup. Their hopes of a first UEFA Champions League group campaign in nine years ended at the hands of Ajax in this season's third qualifying round – their point of entry – with a 5-2 aggregate defeat, sending them instead into the UEFA Europa League group stage.

• The Liege club have competed in the UEFA Europa League group stage in four previous campaigns, but have only once made further progress, back in 2011/12, when they went on to the round of 16. They were quarter-finalists in the inaugural 2009/10 season after switching over mid-campaign from the UEFA Champions League.

• Standard have won only one of their last ten UEFA Europa League group games away from home, losing seven including this season's 5-1 reverse at Sevilla – the club's joint heaviest European defeat outside Belgium.

Links and trivia 
• Krasnodar's Brazilian-born midfielder Wanderson started his senior career in Belgium with Beerschot and Lierse. His father Wamberto had two spells at Standard, the second, from 2004–06, at a time when current Standard coach Michel Preud'homme was the club's technical director.

• Three Standard players have played in Russia – Mehdi Carcela (Anji 2011–13), Réginal Goreux (Rostov 2014/15) and Maxime Lestienne (Rubin Kazan 2016–18).

The coaches
• An FC Krasnodar man through and through, Murad Musaev made his mark by leading the club's Under-19s to the knockout phase of the 2017/18 UEFA Youth League, where they were only eliminated on penalties by Real Madrid in front of a competition-record crowd. That achievement helped him land the position of caretaker coach to the senior side following Igor Shalimov's dismissal in early April 2018. His position as the club's new head coach was subsequently confirmed during the summer.

• A former goalkeeper who played 58 times for Belgium, Michel Preud'homme started out with Standard, winning two league titles before making further waves with Mechelen, notably in their European Cup Winners' Cup triumph of 1988/89. He has enjoyed similar success as a coach, winning trophies with every club he has managed, most recently the 2015/16 Belgian league with Club Brugge. This is his third spell in charge at Standard.