Austria Wien v Rijeka background

Austria Wien have been in poor form in recent UEFA home matches but will look to secure a rare win as Rijeka come calling in UEFA Europa League Group D.

Previous meetings
• These sides are meeting for the first time.

• Austria's record in six encounters with Croatian teams is W2 D2 L2, but they have yet to win at home to a Croatian club (D1 L2).

• Rijeka met Austrian opposition for the first time in this season's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, drawing 1-1 away and 0-0 at home against Salzburg – and winning the tie on away goals.

Form guide
• Austria Wien are without a win in six European home games (D2 L4).

• Rijeka are on a four-match European losing streak, and are winless in six UEFA fixtures (D2 L4).

• Last season's Austrian Bundesliga runners-up, Austria Wien have not survived their last five UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage campaign; they reached the quarter-finals of the 2004/05 competition.

• Croatian title winners for the first time last term, Rijeka are in their third UEFA Europa League group stage campaign – but have yet to reach the knockout phase.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Rijeka to Vienna is around 350km.

• Rijeka midfielder Alexander Gorgon joined the club from Austria Wien in 2016, having been with his home-town team since he was a teenager. He helped them win the Austrian league and reach the cup final in 2012/13.

• Austria Wien have a Croatian player, Marko Pejić, the former Dinamo Zagreb trainee having signed after spells with Sesvete (2014) and Hajduk Split (2015–16) in his homeland.

• Misses next match if booked: Filip Bradarić (Rijeka).

The coaches
• Austria Wien coach since 2015, Thorsten Fink won the 2001 UEFA Champions League and several Bundesliga titles as a Bayern midfielder, and secured back-to-back Swiss championships as coach of Basel from 2009–11.

• Rijeka's longest-serving coach, Slovenian Matjaž Kek was hired in 2013 and steered the team to their first league championship and fourth Croatian Cup in 2016/17. A defender and coach at Maribor, where his father and son also played, he was Slovenia boss from 2007–11.