UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2017/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stadio San Paolo - Naples Thursday 15 February 2018 21.05CET (21.05 local time) SSC Napoli Round of 32, First leg RB Leipzig Match background 2 Legend 4 1 SSC Napoli - RB Leipzig Thursday 15 February 2018 - 21.05CET (21.05 local time) Match press kit Stadio San Paolo, Naples Match background In the only UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie featuring two teams that played UEFA Champions League football during the autumn, former UEFA Cup winners Napoli take on European debutants Leipzig. • The Italian side, who finished third in their UEFA Champions League group behind Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk, are competing in the UEFA Europa League's round of 32 for the sixth time in eight seasons. Their German opponents, denied further progress in the UEFA Champions League by Beşiktaş and Porto, are setting foot in the competition for the first time. Previous meetings • The clubs have never met, and Leipzig are yet to encounter opposition from Italy. • Napoli have won four and lost three of their nine European home games against German opposition. Three of those four victories contributed to the club's 1988/89 UEFA Cup triumph. East German side Lokomotive Leipzig (no relation to RB Leipzig) were defeated 2-0 in Naples in the second round before semi-final and final wins over Bayern München (2-0) and Stuttgart (2-1) respectively. • The Partenopei's only success in five home fixtures against Bundesliga opposition since then came against Borussia Dortmund (2-1) in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage. Form guide • Napoli have won three of their four home fixtures in Europe this season. They are unbeaten in the UEFA Europa League on home turf in 13 matches (W9 D4) since losing 3-0 against Viktoria Plzeň in the 2012/13 round of 32. • Three of Napoli's five previous UEFA Europa League round of 32 ties have resulted in elimination, and in every case they failed to win their home leg, draws against Villarreal in both 2010/11 and 2015/16 proving as costly as that heavy defeat at home to Plzeň. • Conversely, on each of the two occasions that the Serie A side have passed beyond the round of 32, they won their home leg – 3-1 against Swansea (also 3-1 on aggregate) in 2013/14 and 1-0 against Trabzonspor (5-0 on aggregate) in 2014/15, when they progressed all the way to the semi-finals. • Leipzig lost at both Beşiktaş (0-2) and Porto (1-3) in their UEFA Champions League group before picking up their first European away win on matchday five with a 4-1 triumph at last season's semi-finalists Monaco. • Third in Serie A last term, Napoli qualified for this season's UEFA Champions League play-offs, where they disposed of Nice 4-0 on aggregate, winning both legs 2-0. • Leipzig gained automatic entry into the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League after finishing runners-up to Bundesliga champions Bayern at the end of their debut season in Germany's top flight. They are the only club ever to have played their first European match in the UEFA Champions League group stage. UEFA Europa League squad changes • Napoli In: Zinédine Machach, Lorenzo Tonelli Out: Emanuele Giaccherini, Nikola Maksimović • Leipzig In: Fabio Coltorti, Philipp Köhn Out: Marvin Compper, Marcel Halstenberg, Nicolas Kühn Links and trivia • Leipzig goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi was at Liverpool when Napoli's Pepe Reina was the Reds' first choice between the posts in 2008/09; Gulácsi spent the second half of that campaign on loan at Hereford United. • Reina played three games in the Bundesliga with Bayern in 2014/15. • Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik played six Bundesliga games (all as a substitute) with Bayer Leverkusen in 2012/13 and 18 games (scoring two goals) on loan at Augsburg the following season. • Leipzig schemer Emil Forsberg played 90 minutes in both games as Sweden eliminated Italy from the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the qualifying play-offs. He faced substitute Lorenzo Insigne in the 1-0 win in Sweden and Jorginho in the 0-0 draw in Milan. • No German or Italian club has ever reached a UEFA Europa League final. Napoli are one of three Serie A sides to have made the semi-finals (with Juventus and Fiorentina), while no Bundesliga club has reached the last four since Hamburg in the competition's inaugural 2009/10 season. 2 SSC Napoli - RB Leipzig Thursday 15 February 2018 - 21.05CET (21.05 local time) Match press kit Stadio San Paolo, Naples • Napoli are one of four clubs from Italy in the round of 32 – the same number as Russia and Spain. There were five Italian clubs present at this juncture in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League – a competition record. • Dries Mertens, Zinédine Machach (Napoli) and Stefan Ilsanker (Leipzig) are all suspended for this fixture. • Suspended for next match if booked: Christian Maggio (Napoli); Willi Orban (Leipzig). The coaches • Napoli boss since 2015, when he replaced Rafael Benítez, Maurizio Sarri is widely considered to be one of Europe's most progressive coaches. He paid his dues in Italy's lower leagues with a multitude of clubs before getting his big break at Empoli, whom he steered into Serie A. His first two seasons in Naples have brought top-three finishes. • Former Austrian international striker Ralph Hasenhüttl was appointed as RB Leipzig coach following their promotion to the Bundesliga in 2016, and he hit the ground running, remaining unbeaten in his first 13 league games en route to guiding the club to a runners-up spot in their debut top-flight campaign. His previous coaching posts have all been in Germany – at Unterhaching, Aalen and Ingolstadt. 3 SSC Napoli - RB Leipzig Thursday 15 February 2018 - 21.05CET (21.05 local time) Match press kit Stadio San Paolo, Naples 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. 4.