Basel v Krasnodar facts

Having both claimed the prized scalps of former European champions in the UEFA Champions League qualifying phase but then been eliminated in the round thereafter, Basel and Krasnodar find themselves back in the UEFA Europa League group stage, the Swiss side for the fourth time, the Russian team for the fifth.

Previous meetings
• Krasnodar are facing Swiss opponents in UEFA competition for the first time.

• Basel have played 13 UEFA matches against clubs from Russia, winning six and losing five. They have been beaten in two of their last three such fixtures at the St Jakob Park, including the most recent – 1-2 against CSKA Moskva in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage – although an earlier 2-0 win in Moscow enabled the Swiss side to reach the round of 16 at their Russian opponents' expense.

Form guide
Basel
• Having won the Swiss Super League eight seasons running from 2009/10 to 2016/17, Basel have finished second to Young Boys in each of the past two campaigns. Last season they missed out on European group stage football for the first time in 15 years, losing to PAOK in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round and Apollon Limassol in the UEFA Europa League play-offs.

• This season they again missed out on the UEFA Champions League proper, an impressive away-goals success over PSV Eindhoven in the second qualifying round preceding a surprise 5-2 aggregate defeat to Austrian neighbours LASK. That meant a transfer to the UEFA Europa League group stage, where they last competed in 2015/16, eventually reaching the round of 16.

• Basel's home record in the UEFA Europa League group stage is W5 D2 L2, though they have won just one of the past four encounters (D2 L1).

Krasnodar
• Since making their European debut in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League, Krasnodar have participated in the competition every season, just once (in 2017/18) failing to reach the group stage. Third place in the 2018/19 Russian Premier League put them into this season's UEFA Champions League qualifying round, where they memorably defeated Porto on away goals (0-1 h, 3-2 a), but were then well beaten in the play-offs by Olympiacos (0-4 a, 1-2 h).

• Krasnodar were unable to progress from their UEFA Europa League group at the first attempt, in 2014/15, but have succeeded in each of their last three participations, reaching the round of 16 in both 2016/17 and 2018/19, when only a late goal conceded to Valencia denied them a first ever European quarter-final.

• The Russian club have claimed one victory on the road in each of of their four UEFA Europa League group campaigns. Their overall away record in the group stage is W4 D2 L6.

Links and trivia 
• Basel's Emil Bergström played in 2016 for Russian club Rubin Kazan alongside current Krasnodar midfielder Ruslan Kambolov.

• Bergström is a Swedish international – as are Krasnodar pair Marcus Berg and Viktor Claesson.

• Basel coach Marcel Koller led Austria to two 1-0 victories against Russia in UEFA EURO 2016 qualification; the defeat in Moscow ended Fabio Capello's reign as Russia's head coach.

The coaches
• A former Swiss international midfielder who won 55 caps between 1982 and his first and last major tournament, EURO '96, Koller spent his entire club career with Grasshoppers from his native Zurich, winning seven league titles and five domestic cups. Early Swiss title successes as a coach with St Gallen and Grasshoppers were followed by spells in Germany with Köln and Bochum before he took charge of Austria in 2011, eventually leading them to UEFA EURO 2016. He became Basel's head coach in August 2018, winning the Swiss Cup in his debut campaign.

• 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. Confirmed as the club's new head coach that summer, he led the club into the UEFA Europa League round of 16 and third place in the Russian Premier League.