CSKA SOFIA

League position: 3rd in Liga
Form: W L W D W
Top-scorer: Ali Sowe (7)
Last time out in UEL Group A: Cluj 0-0 CSKA Sofia

Their season so far: Matchday 5’s goalless draw in Romania saw Sofia’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages ended, but they could still finish third in Group A with both a rare European home win and a Young Boys victory in Switzerland.

CSKA’s two points have come from a pair of away draws at the Olimpico as well as that most recent result in Cluj, and it’s their home form that has most hindered their Europa League progress.

They are yet to score at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in the UEL across their two defeats on home soil thus far, stretching their home record outside of qualifying matches to seven without victory.

With that said, coach Bruno Akrapovic’s team do sit third in their domestic league table and are just five points off top in a jam-packed Bulgarian top-flight campaign already past its midway point.

Akrapovic - whose wife is Italian and son Aaron plays in Serie D with Afro Napoli - is just four games into his role after former coach Stamen Belchev bit the bullet on the eve of the reverse fixture in Rome.

He has two league wins, plus the Cluj draw, to show from his last three after losing the opening match of his reign.

The Bosnian - who turned out for the likes of Wolfsburg and Mainz in his playing days - now operates under new technical director Alan Pardew, the former Newcastle, Crystal Palace and West Ham United manager who stepped into the role two weeks ago.

Both will hope the most recent 3-0 victory at Botev Plovdiv on Sunday put as much fire in his players’ bellies as it did to the team bus, which had to be put out by firefighters after a technical issue saw it set alight after the match.

There are no injury concerns for Akrapovic to worry over, while his resident man on fire comes in the form of Sowe, who joined the club permanently from Chievo in January and has scored in each of his last three league matches.

What they've said: "I watched the first game against Roma, the team played really well. We will try to match them. My big hope is we score a goal.

"In a few positions we have more options, but the guys have played a lot of games and some of them really need a rest." - CSKA coach Bruno Akrapovic