Palermo out to halt CSKA march

US Città di Palermo will look to impede PFC CSKA Moskva's serene progress in UEFA Europa League Group F with the Army Men on target to repeat their impressive group stage feat of 2008/09.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.

• Palermo's only previous meeting with a Russian side resulted in a goalless home draw against FC Lokomotiv Moskva in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage.

• CSKA's ten games against Italian teams have ended W2 D2 L6 (W1 D1 L3 in Italy). Their only away success came on their first trip to Italy, as they won 1-0 at AS Roma in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round. They have lost their last two away matches against Serie A sides.

Match background
• Palermo have won both of their home games in Europe this season without conceding a goal, bringing to an end a three-match barren spell on their own patch in continental competition.

• CSKA have won all four of their European fixtures this season, home and away, conceding just once and averaging three goals a match. Four of their last five European away matches have ended in victory, the other result a 1-0 loss to eventual winners FC Internazionale Milano in last season's UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

• The last time they appeared in the group stage of this competition, in 2008/09, CSKA won all of their games, scoring an average of three goals in each; they are on target to emulate that achievement this time around.

Team facts
• CSKA have been particularly dangerous in the last 30 minutes of their UEFA Europa League group stage matches, with five of their six Group F goals coming after the hour mark.

• Hired to replace Walter Zenga as Palermo coach in November 2009, Delio Rossi never rose higher than Serie B as a player and took a while to make it to the top level after switching professions. However, his reputation was cemented thanks to a spell at Lazio from 2005 to 2009, where he won the Italian Cup in his final season.

• CSKA coach Leonid Slutski's playing career was ended at the age of 19 by a knee injury sustained when the young goalkeeper fell from a tree trying to rescue a neighbour's cat. Having gained experience in youth coaching, he worked wonders in a three-year spell at FC Moskva before leading PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara to a sixth-place finish in 2008. He took over at CSKA the following October.