Krasnodar v Valencia background

UEFA Europa League round of 16 participants for a record-equalling fifth time, Valencia travel to Russia with a fragile 2-1 first-leg lead against a Krasnodar side eager to make it through to their first European quarter-final.

• Krasnodar finished runners-up to another Spanish side, Sevilla, in Group J, losing out on first place only on the head-to-head rule after matching the section winners' haul of 12 points. Leverkusen were eliminated in the round of 32 thanks to Magomed Suleymanov's 84th-minute free-kick in Germany, which gave Krasnodar an away-goals success (0-0 home, 1-1 away).

• Valencia's autumn campaign was in the UEFA Champions League, where they finished third behind Juventus and Manchester United in Group H (W2 D2 L2). They eased past Celtic, 3-0 on aggregate, in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

Previous meetings
• Two first-half goals from Rodrigo in the first leg at Mestalla looked to have put Valencia on the path to a fourth UEFA Europa League quarter-final, but Krasnodar got back into the tie through Viktor Claesson – also their scorer when they lost 2-1 at another Spanish club, Celta Vigo, in the 2016/17 round of 16 first leg.

• Krasnodar have won two of their previous three home fixtures against Spanish opposition – all in the UEFA Europa League – most recently defeating Sevilla 2-1 on matchday two. Their only defeat was 0-2 in that tie against Celta two years ago, their sole previous round of 16 involvement.

• Valencia have won three of their six UEFA competition matches in Russia, the most recent of them at Krasnodar's city rivals Kuban in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage (2-0). They have visited Russia once since then, losing 0-2 at Zenit on matchday five of the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League.

Form guide
Krasnodar
• Since making their European debut in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League, Krasnodar have qualified for the competition every season, failing to make the group stage only once, 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, reaching the round of 32 in 2015/16 and the round of 16 in 2016/17.

• They won all three home fixtures in this season's group stage, repeating their 2-1 defeat of Sevilla with victories by the same scoreline against Standard Liège and Akhisar. The goalless draw against Leverkusen was their first at home in Europe, the aggregate success their first on the away goals rule.

• The Russian club have won 17 of their 25 European home matches (D4 L4) and are unbeaten in their last six (W5 D1) since that 2016/17 round of 16 reverse against Celta.

• Krasnodar have won one of the three European ties in which they lost the first away leg – against Spanish opposition, Real Sociedad going down 3-0 in Russia after a 1-0 win in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League play-offs. In addition to that tie against Celta, Krasnodar were also eliminated by Sparta Praha in the 2015/16 round of 32 after they followed up a 0-1 away defeat with a 0-3 loss at home.

Valencia
• Fourth in the Spanish Liga in 2017/18, Valencia qualified for an 11th UEFA Champions League group stage campaign after two consecutive seasons without European football. Runners-up in that competition in both 1999/2000 and 2000/01, they won the UEFA Cup in 2004.

• Valencia lost twice without scoring against Juventus in the autumn but took four points off both Manchester United and Young Boys, beating each at home and drawing away. Celtic were subsequently brushed aside in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 (2-0 away, 1-0 home).

• This is the Spanish side's fifth appearance in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 – a record they share with Benfica and Zenit – and they have won three of their four previous ties at this stage, overcoming Werder Bremen in 2009/10 (1-1 home, 4-4 away), PSV Eindhoven in 2011/12 (4-2 home, 1-1 away) and Ludogorets Razgrad in 2013/14 (3-0 away, 1-0 home) and going on to reach the semi-finals in those latter two campaigns. They did lose the most recent last-16 tie, on away goals against Athletic Club in 2015/16 (0-1 away, 2-1 home).

• Valencia have won four of their last five UEFA Europa League knockout phase fixtures outside Spain, keeping clean sheets in all four victories. The 2-0 success at Celtic nevertheless ended a four-match winless sequence in European away games (D2 L2).

• There have been 23 previous instances when Valencia have won the home leg of a UEFA competition tie and they have qualified on 21 occasions, with wins in 13 of the last 14 and all the last five. They have never previously won the first leg at home by a 2-1 scoreline.

Links and trivia 
• Valencia's Denis Cheryshev, a scorer at Celtic in the round of 32, made his senior Russia debut in Krasnodar against the United States (2-2) on 14 November 2012.

• An international team-mate of Ari and Yuri Gazinski, Cheryshev scored in the penalty shoot-out when Russia eliminated Spain from the round of 16 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup; Rodrigo appeared as a substitute for Spain.

• Rodrigo is no stranger to Krasnodar as the city in southern Russia was Spain's base during the World Cup.

• Ezequiel Garay played for Zenit from 2014–16 and scored his first Russian Premier League goal in a 4-0 home win against Krasnodar on 6 December 2014.

• All four of Valencia's UEFA Europa League knockout phase campaigns have ended with elimination by fellow Spanish clubs – Atlético Madrid in the 2009/10 quarter-finals and 2011/12 semi-finals, Sevilla in the 2013/14 semi-finals and Athletic Club in the 2015/16 round of 16. Only in the latter case did their conquerors not go on to lift the trophy.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Krasnodar have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.

• Valencia's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
5-4 v Arsenal, 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup final
4-5 v Bayern München, 2000/01 UEFA Champions League final
5-4 v Celtic, 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round
3-4 v Steaua Bucureşti, 2004/05 UEFA Cup round of 32

The coaches
• A 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.

• Marcelino's career as a midfielder, which included representing Spain at youth and Under-21 level, was curtailed at the age of 28 by injury. As a coach, he worked his way up the Spanish leagues, stints with Zaragoza, Real Racing Club and Sevilla preceding an impressive three-and-a-half-year spell at Villarreal, whom he guided to promotion, three successive top-six Liga finishes and the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League semi-finals. He was appointed by Valencia in May 2017.