UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Estádio Municipal de Braga - Braga Thursday 10 December 2020 21.00CET (20.00 local time) SC Braga Group G - Matchday 6 FC Zorya Luhansk Last updated 26/02/2021 12:30CET Previous meetings 2 Match background 4 Team facts 5 Squad list 7 Fixtures and results 10 Match-by-match lineups 13 Match officials 15 Legend 16 1 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 10 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Ivanisenia 90+6; 29/10/2020 GS FC Zorya Luhansk - SC Braga 1-2 Zaporizhia Paulinho 4, Gaitán 11 UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Novais 65, Ricardo 2-2 Horta 73; Rafael 16/08/2018 QR3 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Braga agg: 3-3 ag Ratão 70, Karavaev 83 Karavaev 72; Ricardo 09/08/2018 QR3 FC Zorya Luhansk - SC Braga 1-1 Zaporizhia Horta 69 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA SC Braga 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 5 4 FC Zorya Luhansk 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 4 5 SC Braga - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Stoiljković 43, N. SC Braga - FC Shakhtar 08/12/2016 GS 2-4 Braga Vukčević 89; Kryvtsov Donetsk 22, 62, Taison 39, 66 FC Shakhtar Donetsk - SC Stepanenko 5, 29/09/2016 GS 2-0 Lviv Braga Kovalenko 56 UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Srna 25 (P), Ricardo FC Shakhtar Donetsk - SC 4-0 14/04/2016 QF Lviv Ferreira 43 (og), 73 Braga agg: 6-1 (og), Kovalenko 50 Wilson Eduardo 89; SC Braga - FC Shakhtar 07/04/2016 QF 1-2 Braga Rakits'kyy 45, Donetsk Ferreyra 75 UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 0-0 14/04/2011 QF SC Braga - FC Dynamo Kyiv Braga agg: 1-1 ag Yarmolenko 6; Gusev 07/04/2011 QF FC Dynamo Kyiv - SC Braga 1-1 Kyiv 13 (og) 2 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 10 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers FC Shakhtar Donetsk - SC Raţ 78, Luiz Adriano 08/12/2010 GS 2-0 Donetsk Braga 83 Luiz Adriano 56, 72, SC Braga - FC Shakhtar 28/09/2010 GS 0-3 Braga Douglas Costa 90+2 Donetsk (P) FC Zorya Luhansk - Record versus clubs from opponents' country FC Zorya Luhansk have not played against a club from their opponents' country Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA SC Braga 5 0 2 3 6 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 11 1 4 6 9 22 FC Zorya Luhansk 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 4 5 3 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 10 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Match background Braga qualified for the round of 32 on Matchday 5 and will be looking to close their Group G campaign with a fourth victory as they host Zorya Luhansk who, though eliminated, have won their last two European fixtures. • The Portuguese side clinched a knockout phase berth by beating AEK Athens 4-2 away and are now level on ten points with Leicester City, though the English club, beaten 1-0 by Zorya on Matchday 5, have a head-to-head advantage over them. That means that to top the group Braga must better the Premier League side's result at home to bottom-placed AEK. Previous meetings • Braga beat Zorya 2-1 away on Matchday 2, early goals from Paulinho and Nicolás Gaitán – the Argentinian's tenth in Europe – propelling them to their first victory against Ukrainian opposition at the 11th attempt. • In the clubs' only previous UEFA contest Zorya knocked Braga out of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League in the third qualifying round, the away goals rule favouring the Ukrainian side after two draws (1-1 in Ukraine, 2-2 in Portugal), the second of which extended Braga's winless home record against Ukrainian visitors to five matches (D2 L3). • While Braga are Zorya's only Portuguese opponents to date, Ukrainian heavyweights Shakhtar Donetsk have visited Braga’s Estádio Municipal three times and been victorious on each occasion, most recently on Matchday 6 of the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League, when their 4-2 win helped to eliminate the hosts from the competition. Form guide Braga • Braga's 16th European qualification in the last 17 years was achieved with a third-placed finish in the 2019/20 Portuguese Liga, a season in which they also topped their UEFA Europa League group undefeated ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Slovan Bratislava and Beşiktaş before losing out to Rangers in the round of 32 (2-3 a, 0-1 h). • The 2010/11 runners-up are competing in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the sixth time. They have now gone through to the knockout phase in five of those campaigns, winning their group on three occasions, including the last two. • Braga were unbeaten home and away in 13 European matches (W9 D4) until they lost twice to Rangers last spring, the home defeat one of only two in their last 15 continental fixtures at the Estádio Municipal (W9 D4). In the UEFA Europa League group stage their record at home is W10 D4 L3; the tenth victory came on Matchday 1 when they beat AEK 3-0, the fourth draw on Matchday 4 when they were held 3-3 by Leicester. Zorya • Third in the 2019/20 Ukrainian Premier League, Zorya are featuring in European competition for the seventh successive season. Defeated at the play-off stage of the UEFA Europa League in four of the six previous campaigns, including last season when, under current coach Viktor Skripnik, they were ousted by Espanyol (1-3 a, 2-2 h), their league placing earned them direct access to the group stage this term – as it did for their two previous participations, in 2016/17 and 2017/18. • Zorya finished bottom of their group, on two points, in 2016/17 and third, with six points, the following season. They have yet to experience European football in the spring. • Zorya's 3-0 win at AEK on Matchday 4 was only the second victory in their last nine European away games (D2 L5) and also just the second on their travels in the UEFA Europa League group stage, the other six having all been lost without scoring, most recently on Matchday 1 at Leicester (0-3). Links and trivia • Ricardo Horta, who has scored in both wins against AEK this term, also found the net in both legs when Braga lost against Zorya in that 2018/19 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round tie. • Carlos Carvalhal returned to Braga as head coach in August, 14 years after his first spell in charge. He coached ten other clubs in the interim but experienced just two European campaigns during that time, leading Sporting CP (2009/10) and Beşiktaş (2011/12) to the UEFA Europa League round of 16, where both were knocked out by eventual winners Atlético de Madrid. 4 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 10 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Team facts SC Braga Formed: 1921 Nickname: Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenal fans) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • UEFA Europa League: (2011) • UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2008 Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) Portuguese Cup: 2 (2016) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League unless indicated otherwise) 2019/20: round of 32 2018/19: third qualifying round 2017/18: round of 32 2016/17: group stage 2015/16: quarter-finals 2014/15: did not take part in UEFA competition 2013/14: play-offs 2012/13: UEFA Champions League group stage 2011/12: round of 32 2010/11: runners-up (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 5-0: Braga v Hibernians 13/09/78, UEFA Cup first round first leg • Biggest away win 2-4 three times, most recently v AEK Athens 03/12/20, UEFA Europa League group stage 1-3: Birmingham City v Braga 15/09/11, UEFA Europa League group stage 0-2 twice, most recently v Galatasaray 02/10/12, UEFA Champions League group stage • Heaviest home defeat 0-3 twice, most recently v Shakhtar Donetsk 28/09/10, UEFA Champions League group stage • Heaviest away defeat 6-0 twice, most recently v Arsenal 15/09/10, UEFA Champions League group stage UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League • Biggest home win 5-0: Braga v Hibernians (see above) • Biggest away win 2-4 three times, most recently v AEK Athens (see above) 1-3: Birmingham City v Braga (see above) 0-2: Artmedia Petržalka v Braga 02/10/08, first round second leg • Heaviest home defeat 0-3: Braga v Tottenham Hotspur 19/09/84, first round first leg • Heaviest away defeat 6-0: Tottenham Hotspur v Braga 03/10/84, first round second leg FC Zorya Luhansk 5 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 10 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Formed: 1923 Nickname: Chorno-Bili (Black-and-Whites) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • None Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 1 (1972) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League unless indicated otherwise) 2019/20: play-offs 2018/19: play-offs 2017/18: group stage 2016/17: group stage 2015/16: play-offs 2014/15: play-offs 2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition 2012/13: did not take part in UEFA competition 2011/12: did not take part in UEFA competition 2010/11: did not take part in UEFA competition Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 3-0: Zorya v Charleroi 06/08/15, UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg • Biggest away win 0-3 twice, most recently v AEK Athens 26/11/20, UEFA Europa League group stage • Heaviest home defeat 1-4: Zorya v AEK Athens 05/11/20, UEFA Europa League group stage • Heaviest away defeat 3-0: Leicester v Zorya 22/10/20, UEFA Europa League group stage UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League • Biggest home win 3-0: Zorya v Charleroi (see above) • Biggest away win 0-3 twice, most recently v AEK Athens (see above) • Heaviest home defeat 1-4: Zorya v AEK Athens (see above) • Heaviest away defeat 3-0: Leicester v Zorya (see above) 6 SC Braga - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 10 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga Squad list SC Braga Current season All-time UEL League UEL UEFA No.