UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2015/16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS - Elbasan Thursday 17 September 2015 21.05CET (21.05 local time) KF Skënderbeu Group H - Matchday 1 Beşiktaş JK Last updated 14/09/2015 15:12CET

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1 KF Skënderbeu - Beşiktaş JK Thursday 17 September 2015 - 21.05CET (21.05 local time) Match press kit Elbasan Arena, Elbasan

Match background

KF Skënderbeu will make Albanian history as they kick off their Group H campaign against Beşiktaş JK, and could become the first local club to avoid defeat against Turkish opponents. Previous meetings • The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition. It is Skënderbeu's first encounter with Turkish opponents. • Beşiktaş met FK Dinamo in the 1986/87 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round, winning both legs without conceding. • Clubs from Albania and Turkey have met in 12 UEFA games, with all 12 being won by the Turkish side, by an aggregate score of 33-3. Form guide • Skenderbëu were unbeaten in seven European home games (W6 D1) before losing 2-1 to GNK Dinamo Zagreb in this season's UEFA Champions League play-offs. • Beşiktaş made it through last season's UEFA Europa League group stage unbeaten, then eliminated Liverpool FC on penalties before bowing out to Club Brugge KV in the round of 16. • Skenderbëu are the first Albanian side to feature in the group stage of a major UEFA competition. • The competition's new identity has played well with Beşiktaş: they failed to make it through all three of their UEFA Cup group stage campaigns, but have been successful in all three of their UEFA Europa League ones. Trivia and links • The journey from Istanbul to Elbasan – where this game will be played – is just shy of 750km. • Skenderbëu are one of ten domestic champions in this season's group stage, along with Qarabağ FK (Azerbaijan), APOEL FC (Cyprus), FC Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic), FC Midtjylland (Denmark), KKS Lech Poznań (Poland), FK Partizan (Serbia), Celtic FC (Scotland), Molde FK (Norway) and FC Basel 1893 (Switzerland). • Beşiktaş's Argentinian midfielder José Sosa can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance on matchday one. • Skënderbeu forward Hamdi Salihi and Beşiktaş midfielder Veli Kavlak (who has not been named in their UEFA Europa League squad) were team-mates at SK Rapid Wien. The coaches • In charge at Skënderbeu since 2012, was capped 27 times as a midfielder by Albania, spending the bulk of his career at KF Tirana before finishing up in . He won a title as a coach with Tirana too, and has led his current side to glory in the last three Albanian league campaigns. • Former Trabzonspor AŞ and Turkey goalkeeper Şenol Günes took charge at Beşiktaş in June this year. He famously coached Turkey to a bronze-medal finish at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He has also won two Turkish Cups in the course of four separate spells as Trabzonspor coach.

2 KF Skënderbeu - Beşiktaş JK Thursday 17 September 2015 - 21.05CET (21.05 local time) Match press kit Elbasan Arena, Elbasan 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 f: Match forfeited 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.

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