SK Slavia Praha v PFC CSKA Sofia PRESS KIT Evzena Rošického, Prague Thursday, 3 November 2005 - 20:00 local time Group A - Matchday 2 SK Slavia Praha begin their UEFA Cup Group A campaign with a home game against PFC CSKA Sofia, who are aiming to return to winning ways after losing their home Matchday 1 fixture to Rafael van der Vaart's goal for Hamburger SV. •The clubs are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition, but this will be the third occasion that Slavia have played host to a club from the Bulgarian capital. The Czech side won the first leg of their 1976/77 UEFA Cup first-round tie against FC Academik Sofia 2-0, Peter Herda and Miroslav Radolsky scoring in the second half, but bowed out of the competition after losing the return 3-0 in Sofia. •In the second round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup, Slavia again avoided a home defeat against a Bulgarian club as Pavel Fořt scored in the 90th minute to make it 2­2 against PFC Levski Sofia. The return also finished all square, but the 0­0 scoreline took the Bulgarian side through on away goals to a meeting with Liverpool FC. • CSKA have twice met Czech teams in UEFA competition, with both ties coming in the European Champion Clubs' Cup. In 1961/62, CSKA recovered from being 4­2 down to draw 4­4 at home with VTJ Dukla Praha, now FK Marila Pribram. The Bulgarian side were unable to build on that comeback, however, as the Czech team won the return leg 2­1 for a 6­5 aggregate triumph. • In the second round of the 1989/90 European Cup, CSKA travelled to Prague and drew 2­2 with AC Sparta Praha ­ then TJ Sparta CKD Praha ­ in the opening leg thanks to goals from captain Hristo Stoitchkov and Emil Kostadinov. The Bulgarian outfit completed a convincing overall success with a 3­0 second­leg win, through two more goals from Stoitchkov and another from Kostadinov, for a 5­2 aggregate victory. Team facts: Slavia • Slavia were infrequent participants in UEFA club competitions during the existence of Czechoslovakia, but since the formation of the Czech Republic, they have not failed to qualify to participate in UEFA club competitions. This season marks their 14th consecutive appearance. • Slavia’s participation in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup was short­lived as they entered and exited the competition at the second qualifying round stage. The Czech side lost on away goals to FC Dinamo Tbilisi after the sides shared a 3­3 aggregate draw. • The Czech side’s best performance in Europe came during the 1995/96 UEFA Cup when they advanced to the semi­finals stage of the competition only to lose 2­0 on aggregate to FC Girondins de Bordeaux, who qualified via the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Slavia entered the competition at the first qualifying round where SK Sturm Graz (2­1 on uefa.com 1/15 SK Slavia Praha v PFC CSKA Sofia PRESS KIT aggregate) were their first victims. SC Freiburg (2­1 on agg.), FC Lugano (3­1 on agg.), RC Lens (1­0 on agg.) and AS Roma (3­3 on agg., advanced on away goals) then followed before Bordeaux ended the Czech club’s involvement in the competition. • Slavia finished eleven points behind AC Sparta Praha in the 2004/05 Czech First Division, and ahead of FK Teplice in second place owing to their superior record in head­to­head meetings last season. • Their second place finished provided a berth in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and a match against Belgian league runners­up, RSC Anderlecht. The Czechs lost the opening leg of their tie in Brussels, but a goal from Lukáš Jarolím after 21 minutes ensured that Anderlecht’s advantage was kept to a minimum as they scored two goals through Bart Goor (7) and Mbo Mpenza (38). However, Anderlecht extended their advantage in the Czech capital with two goals in the final 18 minutes through Serhat Akin (72) and Mpenza (85) to deny their opponents their first taste of UEFA Champions League group stage action. • Slavia consoled themselves with a UEFA Cup first round tie against Irish side, Cork City FC, winning 4­1 on aggregate. The Czechs won the opening leg 2­0 on home soil, breaking Irish resistance after 62 minutes through Tomáš Hrdlička before Karel Piták added a second eleven minutes from time. They would also take a two­goal lead in the return leg in Ireland with Piták on target after 28 minutes before Stantislav Vlček added a second after 59 minutes. Cork’s consolation came via George O’Callaghan’s penalty after 73 minutes. • Prior to Matchday 2 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Slavia had played 94 matches in UEFA club competitions. Team facts: CSKA Sofia • The 2005/06 campaign marks CSKA Sofia's tenth consecutive season in UEFA competition. • Since 1969/70, CSKA Sofia have only failed to participate twice in UEFA competition, making 35 appearances in 37 seasons. The two exceptions are the 1985/86 and 1995/96 campaigns. • CSKA Sofia are one of three Bulgarian clubs making their first appearances in the UEFA Cup group stage this season alongside PFC Levski Sofia and PFC Litex Lovech. • CSKA Sofia competed in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup but failed to qualify for the group stage. Having entered the competition in the second qualifying round, the Bulgarian side accounted for AC Omonia of Cyprus 4­2 on aggregate. • The Bulgarians then faced FC Steaua Bucuresti in the first round, but their Romanian neighbours prevailed 4­3 on aggregate to end CSKA Sofia's involvement in European competition for another season. Steaua won 2­1 at home in the opening leg before holding CSKA to a 2­2 draw in Sofia, where the home side's recovery from 2­0 down uefa.com 2/15 SK Slavia Praha v PFC CSKA Sofia PRESS KIT after 34 minutes to salvage a draw with goals from Stoyko Sakaliev and Emil Gargarov was not enough for progress. • Under various guises, CSKA Sofia have reached three semi­finals in UEFA competition. During the 1966/67 European Cup, playing as CSKA Cherveno zname, they shared two 1­1 draws with FC Internazionale Milano before losing a replay 1­0. • Then in the 1981/82 European Cup semi­finals as CSKA Septemvri zname, they lost 7­ 4 on aggregate to FC Bayern München. The first match in Sofia was a seven­goal thriller with CSKA racing to a 3­0 lead in the opening 17 minutes through Georgi Dimitrov, Tzvetan Yonchev and Radoslav Zdravkov only for Bayern to eventually claw their way back. At one stage CSKA were 4­1 up as Yonchev added his second four minutes into the second half, but Bayern gave themselves a fighting chance with late goals from Dieter Hoeness and Paul Breitner. The return leg in Bavaria was a more one­sided contest as Bayern ran out 4­0 winners with Breitner and Karl­Heinz Rummenigge both scoring twice. • More recently, with the club named FK Sredets, CSKA Sofia played FC Barcelona in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi­finals. Barça won 4­2 at home and then defeated CSKA 2­1 in Sofia with Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoitchkov scoring all three of CSKA's goals in the tie. Now aware of Stoitchkov's prodigious talent at first hand, Barcelona moved quickly to acquire his services. • CSKA Sofia actually started the 2005/06 season in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round having won last season's Bulgarian Premier League. • The Bulgarian champions accounted for KF Tirana courtesy of two 2­0 victories in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. Ibrahima Gueye (89) and Emil Gargarov (90+2) provided the firepower in the Albanian capital as CSKA staged a late goal rush. Back in the Bulgarian capital, they needed only two minutes to break the deadlock through Guillaume Dah Zadi before Yordan Todorov added a second in the last minute. • But CSKA Sofia found the going tougher in the third qualifying round when they were ousted by defending champions Liverpool FC. CSKA lost the opening leg 3­1 at home as two goals from Fernando Morientes and another from Djibril Cissé left Liverpool comfortably in control. Velizar Dimitrov scored CSKA's consolation on the stroke of half­ time. Nevertheless, Bulgaria's champions still managed to cause a surprise at Anfield as Valentin Iliev scored the only goal to secure a 1­0 victory on the night, although it was Liverpool who advanced as 3­2 aggregate winners. • CSKA's attentions subsequently moved to the UEFA Cup where Bayer 04 Leverkusen, also recent UEFA Champions League finalists, provided the first­round opposition. CSKA again recorded a 1­0 win on their travels thanks to Yordan Todorov's 15th­minute winner and they then clinched the return leg with Mourad Hdiouad's goal securing a 2­0 aggregate success. • A single goal from Rafael van der Vaart steered Hamburger SV to victory against uefa.com 3/15 SK Slavia Praha v PFC CSKA Sofia PRESS KIT CSKA Sofia in the opening matchday of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. The Bundesliga outfit took three points from the Bulgarian capital thanks to a sumptuous long­range strike from the Dutch midfielder just short of the hour. • Prior to Matchday 2 of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, CSKA Sofia had played 179 matches in UEFA club competition, second only to FK Crvena Zvezda (222) as the club with the highest amount of matches played by any participants in this season’s UEFA Cup group stage.