Under the Hungarian name Zsolnai Testgyakorlok Kore, the club was born in 1908. Since then they have played under the titles: Sk Zilina, Dynamo Zilina and TJ ZVL Zilina before settling on their current name for the inaugural year of the Slovak Superliga in 1993.
Zilina are one of the most successful clubs in the league with last year's title making it five in total, equalling the current record set by Slovan Bratislava.
This will be the club's first foray into the Champions League group stages having failed to make it through the qualifying stages on four previous occasions.
Zilina were more successful with their 2008-09 UEFA Cup campaign where they made it to the competition proper and even recorded a shock victory over Aston Villa in an otherwise disastrous campaign.
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The Boss
Former Czech midfielder Pavel Hapal took the Zilina job in 2009 and achieved instant success with the Slovak title within the year.
During his playing career the 41-year-old represented Bayer Leverkusen, Tenerife and Sparta Prague, collecting 31 international caps for Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic.
Preparation
Zilina’s recent escalation onto European football's top table can be largely attributed to their stubborn defensive record. Just 17 goals were conceded during their 2009-10 title winning campaign but the Slovakians will come face to face with a whole new goalscoring beast when they welcome Chelsea to the Stadium Pod Dubnom.
Like tonight’s opponents, Zilina sit top of their domestic league boasting an unbeaten record. Last weekend's 2-1 victory over Tatran Presov made it four wins and four draws from their opening eight games.
One to watch
Captain Robert Jez has been a mainstay of the Zilina midfield since signing for the club in 2005.
His 163 appearances and healthy return of 33 goals earned him international recognition from Slovakia in 2007,
The 29-year-old has since made four appearances for the national side, scoring one goal against Liechtenstein in November 2008.
Familiar face
It would take the most learned Chelsea fan to recognise Zilina's Gambian striker Momodou Ceesay.
The 21-year-old international spent time in the Chelsea youth academy in 2008 and will be looking to upset his former employers having established himself as something of a fan favourite since arriving in Slovakia on loan from Belgian side Westerlo this season.
Ceesay played an integral role in Zilina's qualification for the Champions League group stages scoring a goal in each leg of the final qualifying round against Sparta Prague.
Trivia
At 150 in the UEFA Club Rankings, MSK Zilina are officially the worst team in this year's competition.
Source: DSG
