Jablonec v Dynamo Kyiv facts

There were disappointing conclusions to the opening matches in UEFA Europa League Group K for both Jablonec and Dynamo Kyiv as they surrendered valuable points by conceding added-time goals, the Czech side in a 2-1 defeat at Rennes, the Ukrainian club in a 2-2 draw at home to Astana.

Previous meetings
• Jablonec have never previously faced Ukrainian opposition in UEFA competition.

• Dynamo have won only once in seven matches away to Czech clubs, beating Sparta Praha 1-0 then 3-1 on penalties to come through a 1998/99 UEFA Champions League qualifying tie. This is their second visit to the Czech Republic this season, a 1-1 draw at Slavia Praha in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round preceding a 2-0 home win, with new signing Benjamin Verbič scoring in both legs.

Form guide
Jablonec
• Third in last season's Czech Liga, Jablonec are competing in a UEFA group stage for the first time.

• They have been unsuccessful in four previous attempts to qualify for the UEFA Europa League proper, falling in the third qualifying round in both 2010/11 and 2011/12 then losing play-offs against Real Betis in 2013/14 and Ajax in 2015/16.

• The Czech club have scored in only two of their last six European fixtures and have recorded just one win in their last seven (D1 L5) – 3-2 away to FC København in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. They have gone three games without a European home win (D1 L2).

Dynamo
• Ukrainian league runners-up to Shakhtar Donetsk last term, Dynamo entered the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, where they defeated Slavia Praha 3-1 before going out in the play-offs to Ajax (1-3 away, 0-0 home).

• This is Dynamo's seventh involvement in the UEFA Europa League and sixth group stage campaign, four of the previous five having been successful, the exception coming in 2011/12. Their best performance was in 2014/15, when they reached the quarter-finals, having also been semi-finalists in the last ever UEFA Cup of 2008/09.

• Dynamo are without a victory in five European matches on the road (D3 L2) but did win their first two away fixtures in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, giving them an overall record at this juncture of the competition of W7 D3 L5.

Links and trivia 
• Jablonec captain Tomáš Hübschman spent ten years in Ukraine at Shakhtar, winning eight league titles, four Ukrainian Cups and the 2009 UEFA Cup. Among his 27 meetings with Dynamo (W15 D4 L8) were the two in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup semi-final that helped the Pitmen defeat their domestic arch-rivals 3-2 on aggregate.

• Ukrainian international left-back Eduard Sobol is on loan at Jablonec from Shakhtar. His record against Dynamo for Metalurh Donetsk, Metalist Kharkiv, Zorya Luhansk and Shakhtar is W2 L6.

• Jablonec are one of five clubs making their debut this season in the UEFA Europa League proper. The other four are Akhisar, Dudelange, Sarpsborg and Spartak Trnava.

The coaches
• Petr Rada has taken on numerous coaching jobs in his native Czech Republic since hanging up his boots in 1996, including a nine-month spell as national team boss from July 2008. The former Dukla Praha defender's longest stint in charge of any team was at Jablonec between 2003 and 2007 and he returned over a decade later, in December 2017, steering the club to third place in the Czech Liga and into the group stage of a European club competition for the first time.

• Hired as Dynamo coach in July 2017, Aleksandr Khatskevich won seven successive league titles with the club as a player between 1997 and 2004, having also claimed five straight championships with Dinamo Minsk in his native Belarus. He later worked with Dynamo's youth and reserve teams before taking charge of the Belarus national side from 2014 to 2016. He was capped 38 times by his country, scoring four international goals, three of them in qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.