Young Boys v Porto facts

Young Boys host Porto in the Swiss capital knowing that victory over the former UEFA Europa League winners will guarantee their place in the round of 32 and at the same time eliminate their opponents, whereas an away win would enable Porto to join their hosts on seven points.

• The Swiss champions have recovered well from an opening defeat in Portugal, winning both home games – 2-1 against Rangers thanks to an added-time strike and 2-0 against Feyenoord courtesy of two penalties – before claiming a precious away point in Rotterdam. Porto are three points in arrears of their hosts, having lost 0-2 in both away fixtures and been held 1-1 at home by Rangers.

• While there are a variety of qualifying permutations still open in a tight Group G, Young Boys will secure progress if they make it three home wins out of three, whereas Porto will be out of contention with a defeat.

Previous meetings
• On Matchday 1, in the club's first UEFA encounter, Porto beat Young Boys 2-1 in the Estádio do Dragão thanks to a double from Brazilian striker Francisco Soares either side of a Jean Pierre Nsamé penalty.

• Young Boys' experience of Portuguese opposition prior to this campaign was limited to a 2011/12 UEFA Europa League play-off that they lost to Braga on away goals (0-0 a, 2-2 h).

• Porto are unbeaten on their last three visits to Switzerland (W1 D2), having lost their first two UEFA fixtures in the country, the second against Juventus (1-2) in Basel in the 1984 European Cup Winners' Cup final.

Form guide
Young Boys
• Champions of Switzerland for the 13th time in 2018/19, having claimed their first league title in 32 years 12 months earlier, Young Boys also reached the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time, finishing bottom of a section in which they competed with Juventus, Manchester United and Valencia.

• Having defeated Dinamo Zagreb in last season's UEFA Champions League play-off, YB were unable to stage an encore this term, losing on away goals to Serbian champions Crvena zvezda (2-2 h, 1-1 a). They are therefore competing instead for the sixth time in the UEFA Europa League group stage, from where they have made further progress twice before, in 2010/11 and 2014/15, but not in their two most recent campaigns, in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

• The Berne club have won 13 of their 17 home games in the UEFA Europa League group stage (D1 L3). Although they have been victorious in just four of their last 11 European encounters at the Stade de Suisse (D4 L3), they are unbeaten in the last four (W3 D1).

Porto
• Domestic runners-up in league and cup last season – to Benfica and Sporting respectively – Porto also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where they were beaten by eventual winners Liverpool (0-2 a, 1-4 h).

• The Dragons' bid to return to the UEFA Champions League group stage this term – for a record-equalling 24th time – ended in the third qualifying round when they lost on away goals to Russian debutants Krasnodar, winning the first leg in Russia 1-0 but losing the home return 2-3 after being three goals down at half-time. That defeat despatched them directly into the UEFA Europa League group stage, where they have competed just once before – in 2010/11, when they won the trophy.

• Since that 2010/11 triumph Porto have played 14 matches in the competition, winning just three and losing seven. Their UEFA Europa League group stage record, however, is W6 D2 L2, featuring three wins out of five on the road, the exceptions this season's defeats in Rotterdam and Glasgow.

Links and trivia
• Saidy Janko signed for Porto ahead of 2018/19 but has not yet played an official match for the Dragons and is on loan this term at Young Boys.

• Young Boys' Miralem Sulejmani played for Porto's rivals Benfica between 2013 and 2015, winning two Portuguese titles.

• Porto are one of three clubs to have won the UEFA Europa League on their debut appearance, the others being Atlético Madrid in the inaugural 2009/10 competition and Chelsea in 2012/13. They are also one of three former UEFA Europa League winners in this season's group stage, along with Sevilla and Manchester United.

• Young Boys have come from behind to win each of their last two Swiss Super League games 4-3 – at home to St Gallen and away to Sion – and have a four-point lead over Basel at the top of the table.

The coaches
• Appointed by Young Boys as the successor to Adi Hütter in July 2018, Gerardo Seoane emulated his Austrian predecessor by steering the Berne club to the Swiss Super League title. He also oversaw YB's debut UEFA Champions League campaign, which ended with a home win against Juventus. The former midfielder has a close and lengthy association with his local club Luzern, with whom he started and ended his playing career and also came through the coaching ranks, eventually replacing Markus Babbel as head coach in January 2018.

• A Portuguese international winger of some repute who scored 12 goals in 56 appearances for his country including a memorable hat-trick against holders Germany in a 3-0 win at UEFA EURO 2000, Sérgio Conceição played for a variety of clubs, winning Serie A with Lazio and three Portuguese Liga titles in two spells with Porto, where he was appointed as head coach in June 2017, replacing Nuno Espírito Santo following a promising stint in France with Nantes. He led Porto to another league title in 2017/18 and the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals the following season.