Olympiacos wary of in-form Bordeaux

Olympiacos FC are making only their third appearance in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds and they would have wished for an easier draw than to face a FC Girondins de Bordeaux side who dropped only two points in the group stage.

Match background
• Two years ago, after progressing beyond the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in nine years, Olympiacos drew 0-0 at home to Chelsea FC in the last 16 before losing 3-0 away. Their best run to date came in the 1998/99 season when they reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to Juventus.

• Olympiacos, who in January parted company with head coach Zico, leaving Božidar Bandović to take charge for the second time this season, reached the knockout rounds by finishing second in Group H, three points behind Arsenal FC and five ahead of R. Standard de Liège. Their home form played a significant part, the Greek side winning all three games and conceding just a single goal.

• Those results put a brighter glow on Olympiacos' home record in the UEFA Champions League proper. Before this season they had managed just two victories in their previous ten fixtures with four defeats.

• Olympiacos have lost their last two meetings with French visitors, against AS Saint-Etienne in last season's UEFA Cup round of 32 and against Olympique Lyonnais in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage, conceding seven goals in the two games. Those defeats ended a four-match winning streak against Ligue 1 visitors.

• The Greek side's heaviest home UEFA Champions League defeat was that 4-1 reverse against Lyon on 1 November 2005.

• Bandović was in charge of Olympiacos on Matchday 1 following Temuri Ketsbaia's departure, leading the club to victories against AZ Alkmaar and PAOK FC in the Super League before Zico took over.

• Bordeaux, hoping to at least match their achievement in reaching the 1984/85 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finals, were the most successful side during the group stage with five wins and a draw. The only points dropped came in a 1-1 draw at Juventus on Matchday 1. With two goals conceded they also boasted the competition's best defensive record.

• The other goal Bordeaux allowed came at home to FC Bayern München while their other two away games ended in a 2-0 win at Bayern and a 1-0 triumph against Maccabi Haifa FC.

• The French champions' only previous experience of Greek opposition was a 3-2 win at Panionios GSS in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage.

Team ties
• Central defender Michalis Kapsis, a UEFA EURO 2004 winner with Greece, played for both clubs. He left AEK Athens FC to join Bordeaux immediately after his country's triumph in Portugal, playing 29 matches in Ligue 1 and moving to Olympiacos 12 months later.

• At Manchester United FC, Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc scored the opener in a 3-2 win in Piraeus on 23 October 2002, his last goal in European competition. He also played in United's earlier 4-0 home victory as well as in the two games the previous season after the teams were again drawn in the same group, United winning 2-0 away and 3-0 at home.

• Blanc came up against Olof Mellberg three times while at United, the Frenchman recording two wins and a draw against the Swede's Aston Villa FC.

• Antonis Nikopolidis was in goal for Greece on 15 November 2006 when they went down 1-0 to France in a friendly in Paris. Alou Diarra came on in the second half for the hosts.

• Yoann Gourcuff and Dudu were together at Stade Rennais FC in 2004/05.

• Mellberg played for Sweden in a 3-2 home friendly defeat by France on 20 August 2008. Gourcuff and Diarra were on the opposing side.

• Michał Żewłakow was in the Poland side who lost 1-0 to a France outfit including Blanc in a Paris friendly on 23 February 2000. Blanc was substituted at the break.

• While with Manchester United, David Bellion faced Panathinaikos FC in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage, winning 5-0 at home and 1-0 away. Nikopolidis was on the other side. Bellion's first league goal came in Sunderland AFC's 1-0 win against a Villa team featuring Mellberg on 28 September 2002.

• Didier Domi spent eight seasons with Paris Saint-Germain FC from 1995/96 to 2002/03 and faced Bordeaux on eight occasions, winning once. However, he was in the PSG team that beat Bordeaux on penalties in the 1997/98 French League Cup final.

• Jaouad Zairi faced Bordeaux on five occasions while at FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (2001 to 2006) and FC Nantes (2006/07), winning three times and losing twice.