Elfsborg seek solace against Salzburg

IF Elfsborg are already out of contention for a UEFA Europa League round of 32 place, but will look for a morale boost with Group C leaders FC Salzburg set to be their last European visitors this season.

• Salzburg and Esbjerg fB confirmed they will finish in the top spots in Group C on matchday four, but Salzburg can be sure of ending up top – and playing the second leg of their round of 32 tie at home – if they get a better result in Boras than Esbjerg manage at home to R. Standard de Liège.

Previous meetings
• Alan made the breakthrough on 36 minutes when the sides met for the first time on matchday one, but Jonatan Soriano stole the show with a 35-minute hat-trick in a 4-0 win for Salzburg – the fourth fastest treble in the competition. Steven Gerrard's 13-minute hat-trick for Liverpool FC against SSC Napoli in November 2010 remains the quickest.

• That encounter was Elfsborg's first meeting with Austrian opposition and Salzburg's first encounter with a Swedish side.

• This will be the 19th game between men's clubs from Austria and Sweden in UEFA competition; Austrian teams have had marginally the better of the previous 18, with the record W9 D3 L6.

Match background
• Elfsborg picked up just one point in their only previous group stage tilt – in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup, and also Group C: they drew their opener 1-1 at home against AEK Athens FC then lost to ACF Fiorentina (6-1), FK Mladá Boleslav (1-3) and Villarreal CF (2-0), finishing bottom of their section.

• Tottenham Hotspur FC, ACF Fiorentina and Salzburg are the only clubs with 100% records in this season's group stage. Three 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 competed in the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stages, making it through to the round of 32 – but no further – in 2009/10 and 2011/12.

Team facts
• Salzburg and FC Rubin Kazan are the competition's top scorers this season with 11 goals each since the start of the group stage.

• Alan's goal in Salzburg's 3-1 win at R. Standard de Liège on matchday four was the club's 100th in their 70 UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League games; it was also the 250th Standard had conceded in all UEFA competitions.

• Elfsborg came into the group stage as one of nine domestic champions in the UEFA Europa League group stage along with NK Maribor (SVN), FC Sheriff (MDA), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR), PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL), Legia Warszawa (POL), FC Shakhter Karagandy (KAZ), APOEL FC (CYP) and GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO). They have since surrendered their title to Malmö FF.

• Salzburg boast Swedish talent in the form of goalkeeper Eddie Gustafsson; the United States-born custodian started his career with IFK Stockholm and IFK Nörrkoping and has been capped ten times by Sweden.

Coach information
• Jörgen Lennartsson was dismissed as Elfsborg coach ahead of matchday two, his side having failed to sparkle after winning the Allsvenskan in 2012.

• Youth coach Klas Ingesson stepped up to take charge of Elfsborg for the remainder of the Swedish season. A bronze medallist with Sweden at the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals, the midfielder played abroad for KV Mechelen, PSV Eindhoven, Sheffield Wednesday FC, AS Bari, Bologna FC, Olympique de Marsille and US Lecce. His coaching career has been interrupted by an ongoing battle with cancer.

• Salzburg coach Roger Schmidt took charge of the club in June 2012. A midfielder in the lower leagues in his native Germany, he combined football with work as an apprentice toolmaker before studying mechanical engineering. He moved into coaching with Delbrücker SC and SC Preussen Münster, before a fifth-place finish in the 2. Bundesliga with SC Paderborn 07 in 2011/12 persuaded Salzburg to hire him.