Despite a change of coach since matchday three, Real Madrid will look for another win against Viktoria Plzeň to keep pace at the top of Group G, while the Czech side are running out of time to make an impact in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
• Holders Madrid beat Plzeň 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu on 23 October in what was the sides’ first ever meeting thanks to goals early in each half from Karim Benzema and Marcelo, although Patrik Hrošovský’s 79th-minute effort for the visitors ensured a tense finale.
• That took Madrid on to six points, level with Roma and two ahead of CSKA Moskva. Plzeň have one point and will be unable to finish in the top two if they lose to Madrid and Roma win away to CSKA.
• Madrid have changed coaches since matchday three, parting company with Julen Lopetegui on 29 October; Santiago Solari has been placed in charge on a temporary basis.
Form guide
Plzeň
• The Czech champions had looked set to kick off Group G with a home win against CSKA Moskva but were pegged back by an added-time penalty equaliser. Matchday two proved a chastening experience as they went down 5-0 at Roma to equal their largest European defeat.
• Plzeň’s 2011/12 and 2013/14 UEFA Champions League seasons both ended in the group stage after starting in the second qualifying round. This is the first time they have automatically qualified for this stage.
• In 2017/18, the Czech club lost to Romania’s FCSB in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (2-2 away, 1-4 home). They went on to finish top of their UEFA Europa League section and beat Partizan in the round of 32, before losing to Sporting CP in the last 16 (0-2 away, 2-1 home aet).
• The CSKA draw halted Plzeň’s six-game winning streak in home European games, since that 4-1 loss at home to FCSB last season.
• In Plzeň’s first two UEFA Champions League group campaigns, their home record was W1 D2 L3. A 2-1 defeat of CSKA on matchday six in 2013/14 is their only win at home in the competition proper.
• The Czech champions’ last home game against Spanish opponents ended in a 3-3 draw against Villarreal in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League group stage. Home and away, they have won one of their seven matches with Liga sides (D1 L5), although they are unbeaten in the only two played in Plzen (W1 D1).
Madrid
• Lopetegui’s charges went down 1-0 at CSKA Moskva on matchday two – only the club’s fifth defeat in the last 35 European matches – after opening Group G with a 3-0 home defeat of Roma.
• Madrid are holders and 13-time champions. Semi-finalists or better in each of the last eight seasons, this is Real Madrid’s 49th European Cup campaign – more than any other side.
• Third in last season’s Liga, the Spanish giants are in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 23rd time – a competition high they share with Barcelona and Porto.
• Madrid picked up six points away from home in last season’s group stage, losing 3-1 at Tottenham but winning 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund and 6-0 at APOEL – the latter result their biggest away success in the UEFA Champions League.
• Defeat in Moscow on matchday two was only Madrid’s fourth loss in their last 19 away European matches, with 11 wins.
• Madrid lost 4-2 to Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Tallinn in August, denying the club a third straight triumph in the competition. The defeat in Moscow means Madrid lost two European fixtures out of four under Lopetegui before his departure.
• This is Madrid’s first trip to the Czech Republic since a 3-2 win at Sparta Praha in November 2001 – their first away win in the country (D2 L2).
• Madrid have won their last four matches against Czech clubs, home and away, and are unbeaten in the last six (D2).
Links and trivia
• Plzeň coach Pavel Vrba was in charge of a Czech Republic side including Roman Hubník that suffered a 1-0 defeat by Sergio Ramos and Spain in the UEFA EURO 2016 group stage.
• Solari scored Madrid’s opening goal in a 3-0 home defeat of Sparta Praha in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League second group stage.
• Toni Kroos appeared in Bayern München’s 5-0 home win and 1-0 away success against Plzeň in the 2013/14 group stage.
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