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Standard Liège v Celta background

Born in Belgium, Standard Liège coach Yannick Ferreira will face opponents from his parents' home country as Celta Vigo return to Belgium in their Group G opener.

Standard celebrate winning the Belgian Cup
Standard celebrate winning the Belgian Cup ©UEFA.com

Standard Liège kick off their UEFA Europa League Group G campaign looking to maintain a winning home run against a Celta Vigo side who have beaten them twice without conceding.

Previous meetings
• The sides' only previous meeting came in the first round of the 2006/07 UEFA Cup, Celta winning 3-0 at home and then 1-0 away.

• Standard's record in 11 UEFA games against Spanish sides is W3 D1 L7 (W2 D1 L3 at home, including a 7-1 loss to Athletic Club in 2004 – their worst ever European home defeat).

• Celta are yet to lose in four meetings with Belgian sides: W2 D2 (W1 D1 home and away).

Form guide
• This is Standard's first European game of the season; they exited Europe in 2015/16 despite winning both of their UEFA home games.

• Standard have progressed in two of their five UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, but missed the cut in their last two attempts, most recently in 2014/15.

• This is Celta's first European campaign since they made it through the group stage and on to the round of 16 in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup.

• Celta failed to win a group stage away game in that campaign (D1 L1) and are without a win in their last four continental fixtures on the road (D2 L2) since their last trip to Liege.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Vigo to Liege is just over 1,400km.

• Celta boast Belgian talent in the form of forward Théo Bongonda, previously at Zulte Waregem from 2013-15.

The coaches
• Aleksandar Janković replaced Yannick Ferrera as Standard coach in early September. Once assistant to fellow Serb Slavoljub Muslin at several clubs, the 44-year-old has coached Crvena zvezda, Serbia's Under-21s and – in Belgium – Lokeren and Mechelen.

• Eduardo Berizzo played in the UEFA Champions League for both Marseille and Celta, the former Argentina centre-back returning to Europe in 2014 to take charge of the Galician club. He led them back into Europe with a sixth-placed finish in 2015/16.

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