UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2015/16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Elbasan Arena - Elbasan Thursday 5 November 2015 21.05CET (21.05 local time) KF Skënderbeu Sporting Clube de Group H - Matchday 4 Portugal Last updated 02/11/2015 16:55CET Match background 2 Legend 3 1 KF Skënderbeu - Sporting Clube de Portugal Thursday 5 November 2015 - 21.05CET (21.05 local time) Match press kit Elbasan Arena, Elbasan Match background KF Skënderbeu's first adventure in the UEFA Europa League group stage will be over if they lose to Sporting Clube de Portugal in Group H. Previous meetings • Hamdi Salihi's first-half dismissal heralded a 5-1 defeat for Skënderbeu when they played Sporting on matchday three. It was their first meeting with Portuguese opponents and one of their two heaviest losses in UEFA competition – along with a 4-0 reverse at APOEL FC in a 2011/12 UEFA Champions League qualifier. • Bajram Jashanica's consolation effort in Lisbon was Skënderbeu's first Group H goal and the first an Albanian club has scored against Portuguese opponents. • This is only the sixth fixture between clubs from these nations in UEFA competition. To date, no Albanian side has won (D1 L4). • Sporting's only previous games against Albanian teams were in a 1985/86 UEFA Cup second round tie versus FK Dinamo Tirana that they won 1-0 on aggregate. Form guide • Skënderbeu and FC Dinamo Minsk are the only sides who have lost all three of their group stage games this season. • The Albanian club are the only one of the eight newcomers to the UEFA Europa League group stage this term yet to record a point. FC Augsburg got off the mark with their 1-0 matchday three win at AZ Alkmaar, while FC Groningen's late equaliser earned them a 1-1 draw at Slovan Liberec. • Sporting are without a victory in 16 European away games (D5 L11) since a 2-0 success at FC Zürich in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage. • Skenderbëu are the first Albanian outfit to feature in the group stage of a major UEFA competition. • In five previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, Sporting have only once failed to make it to the round of 32 – in 2012/13. Trivia and links • The journey from Lisbon to Elbasan – where Skënderbeu play their European home games – is around 2,500km. • Skënderbeu midfielder Gerhard Progni turns 29 the day after the game. • Skënderbeu striker Salihi has scored 14 UEFA club competition goals – one more than all of his team-mates combined. • Skënderbeu are one of ten sides in the group stage who qualified for Europe this season as domestic champions, 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). The coaches • In charge at Skënderbeu since 2012, Mirel Josa was capped 27 times as a midfielder by Albania and spent the bulk of his career at KF Tirana before finishing up in Greece. 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. • A losing UEFA Europa League finalist with SL Benfica in 2013 and 2014, Jorge Jesus unexpectedly left the Eagles for fierce local rivals Sporting this summer. The 61-year-old had started his playing career at Sporting – who his father Virgolino also represented – and had coached Benfica since 2009. 2 KF Skënderbeu - Sporting Clube de Portugal Thursday 5 November 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. 3.