17/11/2017
MATCHDAY 5, NOVEMBER 22nd, 2017
GROUP A
CSKA MOSCOW v BENFICA
CSKA MOSCOW
2 wins and 2 defeats so far and 6 points. If they win tonight it’ll be only the second time ever they’ve won 3 Group Stage games in a season (the other time was in 2009-10 when they won 3 and gained 10 points).
Their 11th Group Stage campaign and their 5th season in a row.
Won 6 of their 8 European games this season.
No clean sheet in their last 32 Champions League proper games. Last was at Trabzonspor 6 years ago.
Lost their last 2 European games at home (both in the Group Stage). If they lose tonight they’ll equal a club record of 3 European defeats at home in succession.
Lost both of their previous Champions League Group Stage home games against Portuguese clubs (both to Porto).
BENFICA
Lost their opening 4 Group Stage matches, including a 5-0 defeat at Basel on Matchday 2 – their biggest ever Champions League defeat. They’re the first Portuguese club to have lost their opening 4 Champions League Group Stage games.
Portuguese champions last season for an ongoing record 36th time for the 4th time in a row.
2 time winners (1961 and 1962).
Their 13th Group Stage campaign and their 8th in a row. Round of 16 last season, losing to Dortmund.
Lost their last 5 European games in a row – a club record sequence of defeats.
Lost their last 3 European away games, scoring none and conceding 11.
Lost on 4 of their last 5 visits to Russia but won on their last visit (2-1 at Zenit in the round of 16 in 2016).
BASEL v MANCHESTER UNITED
BASEL
They’ll qualify for the knockout phase for a 3rd time if they win and CSKA lose. If they win tonight it’ll be only the second time ever they’ve won 3 Group Stage games in a season (the other time was in 2011-12 when they won 3 and gained 11 points).
Swiss champions last season for the 8th time in a row.
Their 8th Group Stage campaign.
Recorded the biggest ever win by a Swiss club in the competition in their 5-0 home win over Benfica on Matchday 2. That is their only win in their last 6 European home games.
Lost 3 of their last 4 European home games.
Lost their last 3 matches against English clubs.
Won 3 of their last 4 Champions League home games against English clubs, beating Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
They beat United 2-1 in this fixture in 2011 to seal their place in the knockout phase at United’s expense.
MANCHESTER UTD
They’ll qualify for the knockout phase for a 17th time with a point.
Won all 4 of their opening games. This equals their best start for 10 years (the season they last won it) when they won their opening 5. If they win tonight they’ll equal their best start ever of 5 wins, which they’ve previously achieved in 1997-98 and 2007-08 (both in 10 years cycles – it’s another 10 years this season…..).
Europa League winners last season, beating Ajax 2-0 in the final in Stockholm.
3 time winners (1968, 1999 and 2008).
Their 21st Group Stage campaign.
Lost only 1 of their last 16 European games.
Unbeaten in their last 7 European away games, winning the last 3. Looking win all 3 Group Stage away games for only the 3rd time (other occasions were in 2009-10 and 2010-11).
Their only win in Switzerland was at Basel 15 years ago.
GROUP B
ANDERLECHT v BAYERN MUNICH
ANDERLECHT
Lost their opening 4 games, conceding 15 goals and scoring none. It’s their worst start to a Group Stage campaign for 12 years, when they lost their opening 5 games (and failed to score). They have lost all 6 Group Stage games before (in 2004-05).
Belgian champions last season for a 34th time.
Only once before has a Belgian side reached the knockout stage (Gent in 2015-16).
Their 12th Group Stage campaign and their first for 3 years. Yet to reach the knockout stage.
Won only 1 of their last 20 Champions League games stretching back 5 years. Only win in that time was 3 years ago at home to Galatasaray.
Won only 2 of their last 28 Champions League Group Stage matches.
Lost their last 5 European games. The club record is 6, set in 1959 and in 2004.
No Belgian club has ever beaten a German club in the Champions League proper (in 17 previous attempts).
No clean sheet in their last 18 meetings with German clubs. Last was in 1990.
Yet to beat a German club in the Champions League (in 9 previous attempts – D2 L7).
Lost 5-0 in their last home match against Bayern.
Beat Mainz 6-1 in their last home match against a German club (in last season’s Europa League Group Stage).
BAYERN MUNICH
They’ve qualified for the knockout phase for a 20th time and for the 10th season in a row.
German champions last season for the 5th time in a row.
5 times winners.
Their 21st Group Stage campaign.
Quarter-finals last season, losing to Real Madrid.
No clean sheet in their last 10 European away games. Last one was 2 years ago.
Looking to win back-to-back European away games for the first time in 3 years.
It’s been 31 years since they last lost in Belgium, at ANDERLECHT in a UEFA Cup quarter-final.
PSG v CELTIC
PSG
They’ve qualified for the knockout phase for a 7th time and for the 6th season in succession. Won their opening 4 games, scoring 17 goals and conceding none. It’s the first time for 23 years they’ve won their opening 4 Group Stage matches, when they won all 6.
A reminder that the record for most goals scored in the Group Stage is 21, set by Dortmund last season.
Their 10th Group Stage campaign and their 6th in succession. Of the French clubs only Lyon (14) have played in most Champions League seasons.
Round of 16 last season, famously losing to Barcelona. Were unbeaten in last season’s Group Stage.
Lost only 1 of their last 45 European home games.
Unbeaten in their last 11 European home games. Last home defeat was 2 and a half years ago.
Unbeaten in their last 26 UEFA Group Stage home matches. Last defeat was 11 years ago.
Yet to lose against a Scottish club (in 7 previous meetings), keeping 6 clean sheets (and 5 in a row).
Yet to concede a goal at home to a Scottish club.
CELTIC
It’s been 5 years since they last won 2 matches in a Champions League Group Stage campaign. If they win tonight they’ll secure a Europa League place.
Scottish champions last season, going unbeaten domestically all campaign and winning the treble.
Their 10th Group Stage campaign, which equals Rangers’ Scottish record for most participations.
Won 3-0 at Anderlecht on Matchday 2. They’ve never won 2 Champions League Group Stage away games in the same season.
Have only ever won once in France before and that was 51 years ago, at Nantes in the European Cup.
Rangers are the only Scottish club to have won in France in the Champions League (at Monaco in 2001 and at Lyon in 2007).
GROUP C
ATLETICO v ROMA
ATLETICO MADRID
Only 3 points from their opening 4 games. This is their second worst ever start to a Champions League campaign, and their worst for 8 years. If they lose tonight it will equal their worst start ever.
3 time runners-up, in 1974, 2014 and 2016. So, runners-up in 2 of the last 4 seasons.
Their 8th Group Stage campaign and their 5th in a row.
Semi-finals last season, losing to Real Madrid. Have lost to their neighbours in each of the last 4 seasons (2 finals, 1 semi-final and 1 quarter-final).
4 European games without a win – their worst winless run in Europe for 8 years.
Won 17 of their last 20 UEFA Group Stage matches at home, but winless in their last 2 (both at their new home) – their worst winless run at home in Europe for 8 years, when they went 6 home games without a win.
Unbeaten in their last 8 meetings with Italian clubs (6 years since they last lost) and have won their last 4 home meetings with Italian clubs. Last home defeat to an Italian club was 18 years ago, to Parma in a UEFA Cup semi-final.
Yet to lose to an Italian club in the Champions League.
ROMA
They’ll qualify for the knockout phase for a 6th time with a point.
This is the first time ever they’ve been unbeaten in their opening 4 Champions League Group Stage games, and it’s their best ever start to a Champions League campaign. Their best points haul in a Champions League Group Stage campaign is 12, set in 2008.
Their 10th Group Stage campaign and their first for 2 years, when they reached the last 16.
Last season they reached the Europa League round of 16.
In their last Group Stage campaign (2015-16) they qualified for the knockout stage with only 6 points.
This is their best unbeaten run in the Champions League for almost 10 years, when they were unbeaten in 6.
Lost only 1 of their last 8 European away games.
It’s been 15 years since they last went a Champions League Group Stage campaign unbeaten away from home (Group Stage 1 in 2002).
Have won twice at Real Madrid before, in 2002 and in 2008.
They won on their last visit to Spain (4-0 at Villarreal in last season’s Europa League round of 32).
QARABAG v CHELSEA
QARABAG
2 points so far – both against Atletico Madrid in the last 2 games. Lost 6-0 at Chelsea on Matchday 1.
Azerbaijani champions last season for the 4th season in a row.
First Azerbaijani club ever to reach the Champions League Group Stage. They’re the 33rd different country association to play in the Group Stage.
Winless in their last 5 European games. If they don’t win tonight it’ll be their worst winless run in Europe for 8 years.
Azerbaijani clubs have lost all 3 of their previous games against English clubs (all games have involved Qarabag).
CHELSEA
They’ll qualify for the knockout phase for a 14th time with a win tonight.
Premier League champions last season.
2012 winners.
Their 15th Group Stage campaign and their first for 2 years. Last season they weren’t in Europe at all.
Lost 3-0 at Roma last time out. They’ve never lost back-to-back Champions League Group Stage games.
GROUP D
JUVENTUS v BARCELONA
JUVENTUS
They could qualify for the knockout phase for a 14th time tonight.
Italian champions last season for the 6th time a row.
2 time winners, in 1985 and 1996.
Runners-up to Real Madrid last season. Runners-up in 2 of the last 3 seasons and runners-up a record 7 times in all.
Their 18th Group Stage campaign.
Unbeaten in their last 25 European games at home (last defeat was to Bayern in round of 16 in early 2013) and their last Champions League Group Stage home defeat was 8 years ago, again to Bayern.
Won both of their home games in the Group this season. It’s been 12 years since they last won all 3 Group Stage games at home.
Have lost only 2 of their previous 25 home games against Spanish clubs – to Real Madrid in 1962 and to Deportivo in 2004.
Unbeaten in their last 8 home games against Spanish clubs. Last home defeat was to Deportivo almost 14 years ago.
Have never lost at home to a Spanish club in the Champions League Group Stage (in 10 previous meetings).
BARCELONA
They’ll qualify for the knockout phase for a 19th time with a point.
5 time winners.
Their 22nd Group Stage campaign – a joint record (with Porto and Real Madrid). Their 14th in a row.
Lost only 1 of their last 20 Group Stage matches.
Yet to concede a goal away from home in Europe this season.
Lost 3-0 in this fixture in last season’s quarter-final, 1st leg.
Yet to win on 4 previous visits to Juventus.
Winless on their last 5 visits to Italy. Last won in Italy 6 years ago, at AC Milan.
13 years since they last lost in Italy in the Group Stage (again at AC Milan).
SPORTING v OLYMPIACOS
SPORTING LISBON
4 points so far. They won 3-2 at Olympiacos on Matchday 1 – haven’t won since.
8th Group Stage campaign.
Won only 2 of their last 10 European games.
Kept only 1 clean sheet in their last 18 Champions League proper games.
Winless in their last 5 European games at home (D2 L3). This equals their worst ever winless run at home in Europe.
Won both of their previous matches against Greek clubs, scoring 7 goals in the process.
First time they’ve hosted a Greek club in the Champions League.
OLYMPIACOS
1 point so far, at home to Barcelona last out. This is their worst start to a Champions League Group Stage campaign for 12 years, when they lost their opening 4 games. A defeat tonight would equal their worst ever points tally at this stage.
If they win tonight it’ll be their 50th Champions League win (39th in competition proper and 11 in qualifiers).
Greek champions last season for the 44th time and for the 7th season in a row.
18th Group Stage campaign. In their last campaign (2015-16) they were eliminated from the Group Stage despite gaining 9 points.
Reached the last 16 of the Europa League last season.
Winless in their last 6 Champions League proper games (D1 L5). The club record is 8.
Lost their last 3 Champions League proper away games.
Lost 8 of their last 10 Champions League proper away games.
Yet to win in Portugal in the Champions League but won on their last visit to Portugal (1-0 at Arouca in last season’s Europa League play-offs) – their only win in Portugal in 7 previous visits.
Only once before has a Greek club won in Portugal in the Champions League and that was 22 years ago (Porto 0-1 Panathinaikos).