Uefa Europa League
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UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2013/14 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS (First leg: 0-1) Saturn - Ramenskoye Thursday 20 March 2014 FC Anji Makhachkala 18.00CET (21.00 local time) AZ Alkmaar Round of 16, Second leg Last updated 17/03/2014 13:12CET Match background 2 Legend 4 1 FC Anji Makhachkala - AZ Alkmaar Thursday 20 March 2014 - 18.00CET, (21.00 local time) Match press kit Saturn, Ramenskoye Match background FC Anji Makhachkala may have felt their luck was out after losing 1-0 at AZ Alkmaar in their UEFA Europa League round of 16 opener, but are in with a chance as the focus shifts to Russia for the decider. • Aron Jóhannsson squeezed a first-half penalty past Anji goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov to settle the match, but AZ withstood sustained pressure from a team throwing caution to the wind. Previous meetings • Under Guus Hiddink, Anji eliminated Gertjan Verbeek's AZ from the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League play-offs; they won 1-0 in Russia, and 5-0 in Alkmaar – AZ's heaviest European defeat and Anji's biggest European win. • The teams for the game at Moscow's Lokomotiv Stadium on 23 August 2012 were: Anji: Gabulov, Samba, João Carlos, Boussoufa, Agalarov*, Jucilei, Eto'o, Tagirbekov*, Shatov, Carcela-González, Traoré (Smolov* 78). AZ: Esteban*, Marcellis*, Viergever*, Gorter*, Reijnen*, Maher, Falkenburg, Martens, Elm*, Altidore, Beerens* (Berghuis* 74). *registered to play for the club in this season's competition Match background • To set up last season's AZ tie, Anji overcame another Dutch side in the third qualifying round, winning 2-0 home and away against Vitesse in their only other encounters with Eredivisie opposition. • AZ have played six games against Russian teams with the record W2 D1 L3 (W0 D1 L2 in Russia). The aggregate score over those fixtures is 13-8 to the Russian sides. • Anji are unbeaten in three games in their temporary European home in Ramenskoye (W1 D2) since losing 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur FC in their first home fixture of this season's group stage. • AZ came through the group stage without defeat (W3 D3) and are unbeaten in five European away fixtures this season (W3 D2). • AZ have reached the round of 16 four times since the advent of the UEFA Cup group stage. They made it to the quarter-finals in all three previous attempts, overcoming FC Shakhtar Donetsk in 2004/05, Newcastle United FC in 2006/07 and Udinese Calcio in 2011/12. Team facts • AZ are one of four qualifiers from the group stage who remain unbeaten after nine games; ACF Fiorentina, Olympique Lyonnais and FC Salzburg are the others. • AZ's Serbian midfielder Nemanja Gudelj is one of only three players left in the competition who have played in all 810 minutes of this season's UEFA Europa League since the start of the group stage: the others are Salzburg goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi and Ludogorets right-back Junior Caiçara. • Gudelj has committed more fouls (18) than any other player still involved in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League. • Anji made it through the group stage at the first attempt under Hiddink last season, losing out to Newcastle on their round of 16 debut after eliminating Hannover 96. • Anji and NK Maribor were the only sides to have made it through this season's group stage with a negative goal difference, -3 in both cases. Anji scored just four goals in Group K; of the other teams that qualified, only Real Betis Balompié (three goals in Group I) registered fewer. • Anji come into this encounter as the bottom side in the Russian top division. The club sold most of their prize assets last summer, including Samuel Eto'o, Willian and Mbark Boussoufa. Coach information • A major footballing figure in his native Dagestan, Gadzhi Gadzhiev returned for a fourth spell as Anji boss in summer 2013. A player for FC Spartak Leningrad, he has coached in Azerbaijan and Japan and worked as assistant to Anatoliy Byshovets during his spells in charge of the USSR/CIS and Russia, embarking on the first of his adventures with Anji in 1999. • AZ dismissed Verbeek ahead of matchday two. He had been in charge since 2010 and led the club to Dutch Cup success last season. • Dick Advocaat was named AZ coach on 16 October, returning to the club where he spent five months in charge at the end of 2009/10. Twice Netherlands coach, he won the 2007/08 UEFA Cup with FC Zenit, as well as national titles with PSV Eindhoven (1997/98), Rangers FC (1998/99, 1999/2000) and Zenit (2007). 2 FC Anji Makhachkala - AZ Alkmaar Thursday 20 March 2014 - 18.00CET, (21.00 local time) Match press kit Saturn, Ramenskoye • Advocaat is one of two coaches in the round of 16 to have led a side to victory in this competition before, with SSC Napoli's Rafael Benítez (Valencia CF, 2004 & Chelsea FC, 2013) the other. Shoot-out record • Anji are yet to have a UEFA tie settled on penalties. • AZ's only UEFA penalty shoot-out ended in a 5-4 loss to FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round. 3 FC Anji Makhachkala - AZ Alkmaar Thursday 20 March 2014 - 18.00CET, (21.00 local time) Match press kit Saturn, Ramenskoye Legend Competitions Club competitions National team competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League EURO: UEFA European Football Championship ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup WC: FIFA World Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup UCUP: UEFA Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals SCUP: UEFA Super Cup U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship Competition stages Other abbreviations F: Final GS: Group stage (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties GS1: First group stage GS2: Second group stage No.: Number og: Own goal 3QR: Third qualifying round R1: First round ag: Match decided on away P: Penalty R2: Second round R3: Third round goals agg: Aggregate R4: Fourth round PR: Preliminary round Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition R16: round of 16 QR: Qualifying round Pts: Points D: Drawn R32: Round of 32 1QR: First qualifying round R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth 1st: first leg 2QR: Second qualifying Res.: Result ET: Extra Time round sg: Match decided by silver GA: Goals against 2nd: second leg FT: Final tournament goal t: Match decided by toss of a PO: Play-off ELITE: Elite round coin Rep: Replay 3rdPO: Third-place play-off GF: Goals for W: Won PO - FT: Play-off for Final GS-FT: Group stage – final gg: Match decided by golden Y: Booked Tournament tournament goal L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow Nat.: Nationality cards) N/A: Not applicable Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended QUAL: All UEFA qualifiers UEL: Current season total UEFA Europa League appearances from the group stage onwards prior to the current matchday UEL: Total appearances in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final only UEFA: All-time total appearances in UEFA club competition including qualifying Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com. 4.