Slavia Praha vs St Pölten match facts

Slavia Praha and St Pölten are both playing catch-up in UEFA Women's Champions League Group B after they each lost their two opening games.

The Czech double winners failed to score in defeats by Roma (0-1 a) and Wolfsburg (0-2 h) while the Austrian champions conceded four goals to each of the same opponents, losing first 4-0 away to their German counterparts (4-0) then 4-3 at home to the European debutants from Italy.

The clubs have never previously met in European competition, nor have they ever faced a team from their opponents' country.

Slavia, who reached the last eight of the UEFA Women's Champions League on three occasions in the space of four campaigns from 2015/16 to 2018/19, won last season's Czech league and cup, seeing off the challenge of Prague rivals Sparta in both competitions.

Karel Piták's side became the first Czech club to seal a group stage spot in this competition following a narrow Round 2 win against Icelandic champions Valur, Tereza Kožárová scoring the only goal across the two legs (1-0 a, 0-0 h).

St. Pölten, eliminated in Round 1 of qualifying in last season's competition, recorded comprehensive victories at that stage this time around against North Macedonian side Ljuboten (7-0) and Dinamo-BSUPC of Belarus (3-0). Celia Brancao-Ribeiro's side then required extra time to get the better of Finnish champions KuPS Kuopio in Round 2, Mateja Zver's second goal of the second leg – which secured a 3-2 aggregate victory – coming in the 118th minute of a 2-2 home draw.

The seven-time ÖFB-Frauenliga champions have reached the last 16 of this competition once before, in 2020/21, going 2-0 up in the first leg away to Swedish outfit Rosengård before drawing 2-2 ahead of a 2-0 home loss a week later.

The Austrian side again let a two-goal advantage slip on Matchday 2, Jasmin Eder's first-half penalty and Rita Schumacher's second just after the interval putting them in control before the visitors from Rome scored four times in the last 15 minutes, Mária Mikolajavá's 89th-minute effort coming too late to prevent defeat.

Players to watch

Diana Bartovičová

The 29-year-old is Slavia captain and the lynchpin of the Czech champions' defence.

She has started all four of Slavia's UEFA Women's Champions League matches this season, helping to keep clean sheets in each of the two Round 2 games against Valur.

In total she has made 37 appearances for Slavia in the UEFA Women's Champions League over nine seasons, though she is still waiting to score her first goal.

A Slovakian international since 2010, she has played over 100 times for her country.

Bartovičová has spent all of her senior career in Czechia, joining 1. FC Slovácko as a youth player before transferring to Slavia in 2012.

She has won six league titles and three Czech Cups with Slavia, completing a hat-trick of domestic doubles last season.

Jasmin Eder

The 30-year-old midfielder opened the scoring for St Pölten against Roma on Matchday 2 from the penalty spot.

It was her third goal in the UEFA Women's Champions League, the other two having also been penalties in back-to-back qualifying wins in 2020/21 against Mitrovica (2-0) and CSKA Moskva (1-0).

Eder has been a St Pölten player since 2013, winning seven ÖFB-Frauenliga titles and seven Austrian Cups.

She has appeared in 25 of St Pölten's 26 UEFA Women's Champions League matches, including all six this season.

An Austrian international since 2011, she announced her retirement from the team last month having been a member of her country's squads at both the 2017 and 2022 UEFA Women's EUROs.

Key facts

Slavia have won only one of their last ten UEFA Women's Champions League matches (D2 L7).

The Prague club have failed to score in six of their last seven European fixtures, including all of the last four games at home.

St Pölten have conceded four goals in each of their last three defeats in the UEFA Women's Champions League.