Wisla Kraków V Blackburn Rovers FC MATCH PRESS KIT Wisly, Krakow Thursday, 19 October 2006 - 16:45 Local Time Group E
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Wisla Kraków v Blackburn Rovers FC MATCH PRESS KIT Wisly, Krakow Thursday, 19 October 2006 - 16:45 local time Group E Wisła Kraków will be hoping to make their European experience count as English side Blackburn Rovers FC head to Poland for the first match of their UEFA Cup Group E campaign. • The two teams have never met before in European competition. • Wisła boast a wealth of experience having made 74 appearances in European competition, winning 34, drawing 16 and losing 24. • However, they are yet to tackle English opposition in any of those matches and will be eager to make a positive start against Blackburn. • The Lancashire team have not enjoyed many happy times in European competition since making their first appearance in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup, going down to a 3-2 aggregate defeat by Trelleborgs IF of Sweden. • Of their 18 European games to date, Blackburn have won just two, drawing seven and losing nine. They beat Rosenborg BK 4-1 in the final game of their only UEFA Champions League group stage campaign in 1995/96, while a 2-0 win against FC Salzburg earned them the 4-2 aggregate win that put them through to this season's UEFA Cup group stage. • Blackburn secured their only previous success in a European tie on away goals against PFC CSKA Sofia in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup. • The Ewood Park side have met Polish opponents twice, taking on Wisła's arch-rivals Legia Warszawa twice in their ill-fated 1995/96 UEFA Champions League campaign. Polish international Jerzy Podbrozny scored the only goal in Warsaw in a 1-0 win for Legia before the sides drew 0-0 in the rematch in Blackburn. • The other Group E match pits FC Basel 1893 against Feyenoord. Last updated 18.10.2006 16:12:15CET uefa.com 1 Wisla Kraków v Blackburn Rovers FC MATCH PRESS KIT Team facts Wisła Kraków UEFA club competition milestones • Wisła's best performance to date in UEFA club competition action came in the 1978/79 European Champion Clubs' Cup when the Polish side advanced to the quarter-finals before exiting to the eventual losing finalists, Malmö FF. They overcame a 2-1 first-leg deficit in the first round, defeating Club Brugge KV 3-1 in the return in a frenetic finish. Having taken a 26th-minute lead through Kazimierz Kmiecik, Wisła looked destined to advance on away goals only for René Vandereycken to equalise ten minutes from time. But Wisła found two goals in the last eight minutes from Leszek Lipka (82 minutes) and Janusz Krupiński (89) to advance 4-3 on aggregate. They defeated TJ Zbrojovka Brno on away goals in the second round following a 3-3 aggregate scoreline, and despite taking a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their quarter-final against Malmö, the Polish side were defeated 4-1 in Sweden in the return despite Kmiecik opening the scoring after 58 minutes. Malmö responded with four goals in the last 25 minutes, including a hat-trick from Anders Ljungberg (65, 72 and 90) to advance to the last four. UEFA club competition honours • None Ten-year record (including current season) • Wisła have participated in the UEFA Cup in each of the last seven seasons. However, in that time they have failed to make the UEFA Champions League in four of those campaigns having been eliminated from the European Cup at the third qualifying round stage. This season marks their first involvement in the UEFA Cup group stage. • Wisła won two ties to take their place in this season's group stage, defeating Austrian side SV Mattersburg (aggregate: 2-1) before accounting for Iraklis FC in the first round of the competition. However, the Polish side trailed 1-0 after the first leg after Athanasios Prittas scored after eight minutes at Krakow's Wisly stadium. They managed to equalise four minutes into second-half added time through Nikola Mijailović at Thessalonika's Kaftanzoglio stadium to force extra time during which Mauro Cantoro struck the winner. 1997/98: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 1998/99: UEFA Cup - second round 1999/00: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 2000/01: UEFA Cup - second round 2001/02: UEFA Cup - second round (having transferred from the European Champion Clubs' Cup third qualifying round) 2002/03: UEFA Cup - fourth round 2003/04: UEFA Cup - second round (having transferred from the European Champion Clubs' Cup third qualifying round) 2004/05: UEFA Cup - first round (having transferred from the European Champion Clubs' Cup third qualifying round) 2005/06: UEFA Cup - first round (having transferred from the European Champion Clubs' Cup third qualifying round) 2006/07: UEFA Cup - group stage 2005/06 season Domestic record: Wisła finished second in the Polish Ekstraklasa, two points behind Legia Warszawa after winning 19, drawing seven and losing four of their 30 matches in the competition. European record: Wisła featured in two UEFA club competitions last season, but made a quick exit from both. Firstly, they lost 5-4 on aggregate to Panathinaikos FC in the European Champion Clubs' Cup at the third qualifying round stage, thus losing out on a place in the UEFA Champions League. The Polish side led 3-1 after the opening leg, and still held a 4-3 lead four minutes from time only for their Greek opponents to equalise and eventually advance after extra time. Transferring to the UEFA Cup provided no consolation as Wisła lost 4-0 on aggregate to Portuguese side, Vitória SC. Last updated 18.10.2006 16:12:15CET uefa.com 2 Wisla Kraków v Blackburn Rovers FC MATCH PRESS KIT Key facts • UEFA club competition record: Pld: 74, won: 34, drawn: 16, lost: 24, goals scored: 138, goals conceded: 100. • UEFA Cup record: Pld: 46, won: 21, drawn: 13, lost: 12, goals scored: 81, goals conceded: 51. Last updated: 14 October 2006 Blackburn Rovers FC UEFA club competition milestones • To date, Blackburn have participated in the UEFA Champions League on one occasion, namely during the 1995/96 season, but they failed to advance past the group stage after recording only one victory and a draw from their six outings. Competing in a group that included FC Spartak Moskva, Rosenborg BK and Legia Warszawa, the-then English league champions found themselves pointless after their first three outings. They played out a scoreless home draw with Legia on the fourth matchday before ending their campaign with a resounding 4-1 home victory against Rosenborg after having scored only once in the preceding five games. All of the goals came in the first half including a nine-minute hat-trick from Mike Newell (31, 37 and 40 minutes) after Alan Shearer had opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 16 minutes. UEFA club competition honours • None Ten-year record (including current season) • This season marks Blackburn's fourth appearance in the UEFA Cup in the past decade, their best performance prior to this season being qualification for the second round during the 2002/03 campaign. • Blackburn accounted for Austrian side FC Salzburg 4-2 on aggregate to advance to the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage. The sides shared a 2-2 draw in the opening leg in Salzburg with Robbie Savage (32 minutes) and Benni McCarthy (39) on the scoresheet for the visitors. At Ewood Park, goals in either half from McCarthy (32) and David Bentley (56) confirmed Blackburn's qualification. 1997/98: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 1998/99: UEFA Cup - first round 1999/00: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 2000/01: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 2001/02: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 2002/03: UEFA Cup - second round 2003/04: UEFA Cup - first round 2004/05: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 2005/06: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 2006/07: UEFA Cup - group stage 2005/06 season Domestic record: Blackburn took the second UEFA Cup automatic spot on offer to teams competing in the English Premiership by finishing sixth with 63 points from their 38 games - 28 points adrift of champions Chelsea FC. European record: Did not compete in UEFA club competition Key facts • UEFA club competition record: Pld: 18, won: 2, drawn: 7, lost: 9, goals scored: 19, goals conceded: 27. • UEFA Cup record: Pld: 12, won: 1, drawn: 6, lost: 5, goals scored: 14, goals conceded: 19. Last updated: 14 October 2006 Last updated 18.10.2006 16:12:15CET uefa.com 3 Wisla Kraków v Blackburn Rovers FC MATCH PRESS KIT UEFA information FARE Action Week Anti-racism activities will take place at all games on UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 as part of the seventh FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) Action Week against racism and discrimination between 17 and 30 October. The activities will include the captains of all the teams wearing Unite Against Racism armbands, player-escort children sporting Unite Against Racism T-shirts, announcements being made to fans in stadiums over the loudspeaker calling for opposition to all forms of racism, and Unite Against Racism adverts being placed in matchday programmes as well as the official UEFA Champions League magazine Champions. Such activities have been going on for several years, as UEFA has consolidated its partnership with the FARE network since the 2000/01 season by way of financial support - including UEFA's 2001 charity cheque worth CHF1m (€629,000) - conferences, publications and campaigns. A new guide called 'Tackling racism in club football' has been published by FARE and UEFA, and advises clubs on dealing with racist conduct on and off the field.