Ajax up for fifth Salzburg meeting

AFC Ajax will look to get the better of FC Salzburg again when they meet in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, with the Austrian side yet to win a game in the Netherlands.

Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the fifth time, with Ajax yet to lose in four fixtures against Salzburg: W2 D2 L0 (W1 D1 L0 in Amsterdam – W1 D1 L0 in Austria). Current Ajax coach Frank de Boer featured in all four matches.

• The teams first met in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round, Louis van Gaal's Ajax beating Otto Barić's Salzburg 3-0 in Austria and 3-1 in Amsterdam.

• The teams for that first Amsterdam encounter on 30 September 1992 were:
Ajax: Menzo, Silooy, Blind, Jonk, F de Boer, Vink, Overmars, Kreek (Petersen 69), Pettersson, Bergkamp, Davids (Van Loen 60).
Salzburg: Konrad, Lainer, Weber, Garger, Reisinger, Hristic (Ilsanker 69), Jurčević, Willfurth, Sabitzer (Ergović 63), Feiersinger, Stadler.

• The same coaches were in charge when the sides drew 0-0 in Salzburg and 1-1 in Amsterdam in the group stage of the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League, which Ajax went on to win.

• The teams for the Amsterdam encounter on 2 November 1994 were:
Ajax: Van der Sar, Reiziger, Seedorf, Rijkaard, F de Boer, R de Boer, Finidi George, Davids, Kluivert (Kanu 57), Litmanen, Overmars (Van Vossen 46).
Salzburg: Konrad, Lainer, Kocijan, Mladenović (Hütter 62), Fürstaller, Winklhofer, Jurčević, Artner (Hassenhüttl 83), Pfeifenberger, Feiersinger, Hiden.

Match background
• In total, Ajax have played nine games against Austrian sides with the record W4 D3 L2 (W3 D1 L1 at home – W1 D2 L1 in Austria). That lone home defeat was a 3-0 forfeit in a 1989/90 UEFA Cup meeting with FK Austria Wien, which was abandoned in extra time after crowd trouble.

• Salzburg's eight encounters with Dutch clubs ended W2 D3 L3 (W2 D1 L1 – W0 D2 L2 in the Netherlands).

• Ajax are in the round of 32 for the sixth successive season. Of those five previous ties they won two and lost three, including the most recent two – against Manchester United FC in 2011/12 and FC Steaua Bucureşti last season.

• Ajax are unbeaten in four home games (W3 D1) since a 4-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Salzburg and Tottenham Hotspur FC came through this season's group stage with 100% records. Only three other sides have won all six of their group matches since the advent of the UEFA Europa League: Salzburg (2009/10), FC Zenit (2010/11) and RSC Anderlecht (2011/12).

• Salzburg have won all four of their UEFA Europa League away games this term.

Team facts
• Ajax are one of nine former UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League winners, and nine domestic champions in the round of 32.

• Salzburg had 44 shots on target in the group stage, four more than their nearest rivals FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

• Salzburg and Tottenham were the highest scorers in the group stage with 15 goals apiece.

• Salzburg's Hungarian goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi and Ajax's Danish defender Christian Poulsen were team-mates at Liverpool FC from 2011–12, though Gulácsi spent much of that period out on loan and never made a senior appearance for the Reds.

• The UEFA Europa League's 2,500th goal was registered by Salzburg's Senegal midfielder Sadio Mané as he rounded off the scoring in a 3-0 home win against Esbjerg fB on matchday six.

Coach information
• Since taking charge in December 2010, Frank de Boer has led Ajax to three consecutive titles in the Netherlands. He and twin brother Ronald came through the ranks at the club, where Frank de Boer won five league titles as well as the 1991/92 UEFA Cup and 1994/95 UEFA Champions League. The 112-times capped defender lifted another domestic title in Spain with FC Barcelona, later playing for Rangers FC and Galatasaray AŞ before moving into coaching.

• De Boer celebrates his 44th birthday on 15 May 2014, the day after this season's UEFA Europa League final.

• De Boer is one of three coaches in the round of 32 who have won this competition as players, along with PAOK FC's Huub Stevens (PSV Eindhoven, 1978) and Juventus's Antonio Conte (Juventus 1993).

• Salzburg coach Roger Schmidt agreed a two-year extension to his contract in December, binding him to the club until the summer of 2016. A lower-league midfielder in his native Germany, he combined football with work as an apprentice toolmaker before studying mechanical engineering. He moved into coaching with Delbrücker SC, SC Preussen Münster and SC Paderborn 07 before signing for Salzburg in 2012.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will meet Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC or FC Basel 1893 in the round of 16, with the second leg at home.

• Ajax met Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage, winning 3-0 at home but going down 2-1 in Israel. They came across Basel in the second round of the 1970/71 European Champion Clubs' Cup, prevailing 3-0 at home and 2-1 away en route to winning the competition.

• Salzburg have never met either of their potential opponents.