Zenit v AZ background

Fresh from one of the greatest comeback wins in UEFA club competition history, Zenit will look to make rather lighter work of AZ Alkmaar in UEFA Europa League Group D.

Previous meetings
• Ari's sending-off for the visitors helped Dick Advocaat's Zenit fight back to hold Louis van Gaal's AZ to a 1-1 draw in Russia in the clubs' only previous meeting, in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage.

• The teams for that game om 25 October 2007 were:
Zenit: Čontofalský, Ding-Jin, Lombaerts*, Škrtel, Anyukov*, Šírl, Tymoshchuk, Zyryanov, Domínguez (Maksimov 81), Arshavin, Fatih Tekke.
AZ: Waterman, Koenders, Jaliens, Donk, Opdam, Mendes (El Hamdaoui 59), Cziommer (Medunjanin 90+2), Agustien, Martens (Pocognoli 49), Dembélé, Ari.

*registered to play for the club in this season's group stage

• Zenit's record in five matches against Dutch sides is W3 D1 L1 (W2 D1 in St Petersburg); AZ's record against Russian opponents reads W2 D2 L3 (D2 L2 in Russia).

Form guide
• Zenit's matchday one tie was a classic: trailing 3-0 at Maccabi Tel-Aviv after 77 minutes, Mircea Lucescu's men managed to win 4-3, Luka Djordjević hitting the decider in added time.

• A 2-1 home loss to Benfica in their most recent European home fixture – in last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16 – ended a seven-game unbeaten UEFA home run for Zenit (W6 D1).

• AZ are now undefeated in six European outings (W3 D3) but their 1-1 draw with Dundalk on matchday one did not come without drama – midfielder Stijn Wuytens being taken to hospital with concussion after colliding with the visiting goalkeeper in the course of scoring AZ's goal.

• UEFA Cup winners in 2008, Zenit have progressed in three of their four previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns. In 2010/11 they won all six group matches.

• AZ have successfully navigated five of their eight previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Alkmaar to St Petersburg is around 1,750km.

• Zenit's Montenegrin forward Djordjević spent the 2013/14 season in the Netherlands, where he played for Twente.

• AZ forward Robert Mühren is the nephew of former Netherlands duo Gerrie and Arnold Mühren; the latter lifted the UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town in 1981.

The coaches
• Mircea Lucescu took charge of Zenit this summer, the 71-year-old Romanian ending a 12-year spell at Shakhtar Donetsk in which he picked up eight Ukrainian titles and the 2008/09 UEFA Cup. He previously won Turkish championships with Beşiktaş and Galatasaray.

• Lucescu is the most experienced coach in the 2016/17 competition; this will be his 216th UEFA club fixture.

• AZ coach John van den Brom spent the bulk of his playing career as a midfielder for Vitesse, and was capped twice for his country. As a coach, he claimed the Belgian title with Anderlecht in 2013, taking command in Alkmaar in 2014.