Rapid turnaround required for Thun

SK Rapid Wien and FC Thun are living on the edge as they meet again in UEFA Europa League Group G, with defeat for either side on matchday five sure to spell the end of the road.

• Rapid could nominally draw against Thun and go on to finish second provided KRC Genk beat FC Dynamo Kyiv elsewhere in the section, while anything other than a win would spell the end for the Swiss club.

Previous meetings
• Christian Schneuwly scored the only goal for Thun when the teams met for the first time on matchday one, with that 1-0 victory Thun's maiden experience of Austrian opponents and Rapid's first encounter with a Swiss side.

• Swiss and Austrian clubs have crossed paths in 23 UEFA competition games and the Swiss outfits have had the better of them, earning the record W10 D8 L5 (W7 D3 L2 at home – W3 D5 L3 in Austria). Swiss clubs are unbeaten in their last nine games against opposition from Austria (W5 D4).

Match background
• This is Rapid's fourth attempt in the group stage of this competition, though they have yet to successfully navigate their way through to the last 32.

• Rapid are unbeaten in five European home matches (W3 D2), but both of their previous Group G fixtures at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion ended in 2-2 draws.

• Thun are on a three-game losing streak away from home in Europe, and come into the match fresh from a 2-0 home loss to Dynamo on matchday four – one of their worst home results in Europe, along with a 4-2 loss to AFC Ajax in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Thun are competing in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time, having lost to Stoke City FC in the play-offs two years ago. They memorably made it to the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage, finishing third in their section to earn a transfer to the UEFA Cup round of 32, where they lost to Hamburger SV.

Team facts
• Rapid have lost more UEFA Europa League matches than any other team (14), and claimed another unwanted record on matchday four, their 2-2 draw at home to Genk meaning that they have now conceded the most goals in the competition (46), the previous mark of 45 having been set by 2011/12 runners-up Athletic Club.

• Thun qualified for the UEFA Europa League with a fifth-place finish in the 2012/13 Swiss Super League, while Rapid finished third in the Austrian Bundesliga.

• The national teams of Austria and Switzerland have met 42 times in official international games, Austria claiming 25 wins to Switzerland's 12. The Swiss, however, have won the two most recent encounters – friendly games in Zurich in 2007 (3-1) and Klagenfurt in 2010 (1-0).

Coach information
• Zoran Barisic's second spell as Rapid coach commenced in spring 2013, and the former midfielder has deep roots with the club. Born in Vienna but of Croatian descent, he was among the key performers as Rapid reached the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and won the Austrian title the same year, and later won three titles at FC Tirol Innsbruck. He returned to the Rapid youth ranks to start his coaching career.

• Urs Fischer took charge of Thun in November 2012 following a long spell working with FC Zürich, where he was in charge of various youth teams before becoming assistant and then senior coach. The centre-back made a record 545 Swiss league appearances – over 300 of them for Zürich, where he played his first and last games. In between, he captained FC St Gallen and was capped four times by Switzerland.