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Braga v Liberec background

Braga have twice got the better of Slovan Liberec in Europe and know a third victory would confirm their place in the round of 32 draw as the winners of Group F.

Braga forward Alan under pressure from Liberec's Josef Šural
Braga forward Alan under pressure from Liberec's Josef Šural ©AFP/Getty Images

SC Braga will secure a first-place finish in UEFA Europa League Group F if they defeat away-day specialists FC Slovan Liberec for a third time.

• Braga qualify with a win or if they draw and Marseille lose to eliminated FC Groningen.

• Slovan need to win, and for Marseille to lose, to progress on matchday five.

Previous meetings
• Rafa Silva scored on his European debut as Braga beat Liberec 1-0 in the Czech Republic on matchday one in their second encounter in UEFA competition. It was Braga's 100th UEFA game.

• The clubs first met in a 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage match when Carlos Carvalhal's Braga beat Vítězslav Lavička's Slovan 4-0 in Portugal.

• Liberec defeated Estoril Praia 2-1 home and away in their only other fixtures against Portuguese opponents, in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Form guide
• Braga have won their last four UEFA Europa League group stage home games.

• Liberec have won all four of their European away matches this season without conceding – a 3-0 followed by three 1-0s.

• Losing finalists in 2011 – when they transferred over at the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage – Braga have made it to the round of 32 in all four of their previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

• This is Liberec's third appearance in this group stage; they fell short in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage, but advanced to the round of 32 in 2013/14.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Liberec to Braga is just over 2,050km.

• The game is taking place the day after Braga defender Ricardo Ferreira's 23rd birthday.

The coaches
• Appointed Braga coach this summer, former defender Paulo Fonseca had a low-key playing career. Having made his name in the second division as boss of CD Aves, Fonseca twice coached FC Paços de Ferreira in the top flight either side of a stint in charge of FC Porto, where he was once on the books as a player.

• Jindřich Trpišovský took control at Slovan in June. It was a major top-flight appointment for the coach, who models himself on Liverpool FC's Jürgen Klopp. Once a youth coach at AC Sparta Praha, he previously led second-division FK Viktoria Žižkov, impressing despite the club's financial problems.

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