UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS BayArena - Leverkusen Thursday 10 December 2020 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Bayer 04 Leverkusen Group C - Matchday 6 SK Slavia Praha Last updated 09/12/2020 20:03CET Match background 2 Legend 4 1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen - SK Slavia Praha Thursday 10 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit BayArena, Leverkusen Match background Bayer Leverkusen and Slavia Praha both sealed qualification for the knockout phase on Matchday 5 and now meet in Germany to determine which of the two clubs will win Group C. • The German side won 3-2 at Nice last time out, goals from Moussa Diaby, Aleksandar Dragović and Julian Baumgartlinger making it three group wins in a row, while the Czech champions made it four victories on the trot by winning 3-0 at home to Hapoel Beer-Sheva, first-half goals by Abdallah Sima and Nicolae Stanciu preceding an own goal. Leverkusen will top the group with a victory, Slavia with a win or a draw. Previous meetings • On Matchday 2, in the clubs' first UEFA encounter, Slavia beat Leverkusen 1-0 in Prague, an 80th-minute winner from Peter Olayinka ending the resistance of their ten-man visitors following Karim Bellarabi's first-half red card and Stanciu's missed penalty. • Leverkusen are unbeaten in their four games at home to Czech opponents (W3 D1) and have kept clean sheets in the three wins, the most recent of which took place in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage, when they beat Slavia's city rivals Sparta Praha. • Slavia's overall record against German clubs is W4 D3 L8, five successive defeats preceding their Matchday 2 victory. They remain on a run of five straight losses in Germany, most recently going down 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage. Form guide Leverkusen • Fifth place in the 2019/20 Bundesliga earned Leverkusen a return to the UEFA Europa League, where they reached the quarter-finals last season after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group. They won both legs against Porto in the round of 32 (2-1 h, 3-1 a) and Rangers in the round of 16 (3-1 a, 1-0 h) before losing their last-eight encounter 2-1 to Internazionale in nearby Düsseldorf. They also reached the final of last season's DFB-Pokal, losing 4-2 to Bayern München. • This is the 1987/88 UEFA Cup winners' sixth appearance in the UEFA Europa League proper and fourth in the group stage. They have never failed to progress to the knockout phase, topping the group in their most recent participation two seasons ago ahead of Ludogorets, Zürich and AEK Larnaca. • The Werkself's overall home record in the UEFA Europa League, play-offs included, is W13 D5 L2, with no defeats in the last ten matches (W7 D3), which include two big wins at the BayArena this season – 6-2 against Nice and 4-1 against Hapoel Beer-Sheva. Slavia • Champions of the Czech Republic for the third time in four years last season, Slavia missed out on a second successive UEFA Champions League group stage adventure this term when, led again by coach Jindřich Trpišovský, they were defeated by Midtjylland in the play-offs (0-0 h, 1-4 a). • Fourth in their UEFA Champions League section last season, behind Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Internazionale, Slavia are competing in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the fourth time. They failed to make further progress in 2009/10 and 2017/18 but went all the way to the quarter-finals on their last appearance, in 2018/19, despite scoring just four goals in the group stage. • Slavia's 3-1 win at Nice on Matchday 4 was only the second victory in their last nine European away fixtures (D3 L4), though they did draw at both Inter (1-1) and Barcelona (0-0) in last season's UEFA Champions League. Their overall record on the road in the UEFA Europa League proper is W4 D4 L6, the latest defeat 3-1 at Hapoel Beer-Sheva on Matchday 1. Links and trivia • Leverkusen's Prague-born forward Patrik Schick has scored nine goals in 22 appearances for the Czech Republic and is a national team-mate of several Slavia players. He began his career with Slavia's main rivals Sparta Praha and also spent 2015/16 on loan with Bohemians 1905, playing in two league draws against Slavia (2-2 a, 0-0 h). • Peter Bosz's side are the top scorers in this season's group stage with 17 goals in their first five matches – one more than Arsenal (Group B) and Benfica (D). Their current tally matches the German record, which they share with Werder Bremen (2009/10) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2018/19). The record number of goals scored in a UEFA Europa League group is 22, set by Napoli in 2015/16. • Leverkusen's fourth appearance in the UEFA Europa League group stage is a record for a German club. They are also now the highest-scoring Bundesliga side in the competition, on 75 goals, having overtaken Eintracht Frankfurt 2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen - SK Slavia Praha Thursday 10 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit BayArena, Leverkusen (62) with their fifth goal in the 6-2 win at home to Nice on Matchday 1. • The Rhineland club are one of six former UEFA Cup winners in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage – along with PSV Eindhoven (Group E), Napoli (F), Tottenham (J), CSKA Moskva and Feyenoord (both K). 3 Bayer 04 Leverkusen - SK Slavia Praha Thursday 10 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit BayArena, Leverkusen 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.