UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Rhein-Neckar-Arena - Sinsheim Thursday 5 November 2020 21.00CET (21.00 local time) TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Group L - Matchday 3 FC Slovan Liberec Last updated 03/11/2020 16:58CET

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1 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - FC Slovan Liberec Thursday 5 November 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim

Match background

Hoffenheim will hope to strengthen their grip on UEFA Europa League Group L as they welcome to southern Germany a Slovan Liberec side who were well beaten on their travels last time out. • Sebastian Hoeness's side have collected a maximum six points from their opening two games, a 2-0 home win over Crvena zvezda preceding a historic 4-1 success at Gent – Hoffenheim's first away victory in UEFA competition – that featured four different scorers, Ishak Belfodil's penalty making it 1-0 at the interval before further strikes from , Mijat Gaćinović and Munas Dabbur. Liberec, who beat Gent 1-0 at home on Matchday 1, were then overwhelmed 5-1 by Crvena zvezda in Belgrade, their joint heaviest European defeat. Previous meetings • This is Hoffenheim's first UEFA fixture against Czech opponents and Liberec's ninth against a German club, none of the previous eight having yielded a victory (D3 L5). They lost their first three in Germany but drew the most recent, 2-2 at Freiburg in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage. Form guide Hoffenheim • Sixth place in the 2019/20 secured a return to European football for Hoffenheim after a one-year absence, putting them in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the second time. • Hoffenheim failed to progress from their group on their previous appearance in the competition, finishing fourth on five points in 2017/18 in a group containing Braga, Ludogorets and İstanbul Başakşehir. They also finished bottom of their UEFA Champions League group the following season with three points, behind Manchester City, Lyon and Shakhtar Donetsk. • Hoffenheim have scored in all 16 of their European fixtures but despite this season's successes they have won only three of them, losing eight. Their home record in Europe is W2 D2 L4. Liberec • Liberec finished fifth in last season's Czech Liga and also reached the cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Sparta Praha. The league placing earned the club a return to UEFA competition after a three-season absence. • Having kicked off their 2020/21 UEFA Europa League campaign with away wins at Riteriai (5-1) and FCSB (2-0), Pavel Hoftych's side secured the club's fourth appearance in the competition's group stage by overcoming APOEL 1-0 at home in the play-offs. Liberec came through their group at the first attempt in 2013/14, finishing second behind eventual winners Sevilla before losing in the round of 32 to AZ Alkmaar, but failed to make further progress in both 2015/16 (third place) and 2016/17 (fourth). • Although Liberec have lost only four of their 11 away fixtures in the UEFA Europa League proper, winning three, all of those defeats have come in the last five matches (D1), with 14 goals conceded over that stretch and just four scored. Links and trivia • Hoffenheim's Czech Republic international Pavel Kadeřábek joined the club from Sparta Praha in 2015. He made 76 appearances in the Czech top flight, including 11 on loan at Viktoria Žižkov, and won the domestic double with Sparta in 2013/14.

2 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - FC Slovan Liberec Thursday 5 November 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim 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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