PAOK v Qarabağ background

Locked together on four points, PAOK and Qarabağ meet again on matchday four with the Greek team out to avenge a 2-0 defeat from their first encounter.

Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in UEFA competition on matchday three; the 2-0 win on 20 October was Qarabağ's first experience of Greek opposition.

• PAOK played Gabala in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, with both matches against the Azerbaijani club ending 0-0. Thus they have yet to score in three games against Azeri opponents.

Form guide
• PAOK have drawn their last four UEFA Europa League group stage home fixtures. They are joint top of the UEFA Europa League charts for both draws (16, with Lazio) and goalless draws (7, with Liverpool).

• Qarabağ are without a win in seven European away matches (D2 L5).

• The Salonika outfit have qualified from three of their previous six UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

• Qarabağ are featuring in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the third campaign running but have yet to make it to the round of 32.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Baku to Salonika is around 2,300km.

• PAOK striker Stefanos Athanasiadis can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance on matchday four. The 27-year-old is his team's all-time European top scorer with 20 goals.

• Qarabağ goalkeeper Bojan Šaranov (Ergotelis, 2015) and midfielder Míchel (AEK Athens, 2011) have played club football in Greece.

• PAOK forward Facundo Pereyra spent last term in Azerbaijan with Gabala; he came off the bench to figure in their 0-0 UEFA Europa League draw at home to PAOK.

• Former team-mates:
Dino Ndlovu (Qarabağ) & Efthymis Koulouris (PAOK) – Anorthosis, 2015–16

The coaches
• Vladimir Ivić took charge at PAOK last March following a spell as the club's youth coach. An attacking midfielder, he won three Serbian titles with Partizan and played for AEK Athens and Aris Thessaloniki before a four-season PAOK stint.

• Qarabağ coach Gurban Gurbanov is Azerbaijan's highest-scoring international with 12 goals in 62 games and played in Russia and Ukraine as well as Azerbaijan. Coach since 2008, he has led Qarabağ to domestic championships in the last three campaigns.