Benfica bid to secure first place against Oţelul

Already sure of their place in the last 16, SL Benfica will now aim to ensure they step into it as group winners by beating point-less FC Oţelul Galaţi on matchday six.

• The two-time European champions have not finished top of their section in a UEFA Champions League group stage since 1995 but by drawing 2-2 draw at Manchester United FC last time out Benfica, as current Group C leaders, now have first place within their grasp.

• Benfica's superior head-to-head record against United means a victory will definitely keep them top, while a draw would be enough if the group's other fixture between FC Basel 1893 and United is also drawn.

• As for an Oţelul side beaten 1-0 by Benfica in Bucharest, they have one final opportunity to claim their first points after five straight defeats in their debut UEFA Champions League campaign.

Match background
• Benfica are actually looking for their first win in Lisbon in Group C although their form at home in Europe has been impressive in recent times, with just one defeat from their last 18 home matches in UEFA competition. Jorge Jesus's men had won six in a row before draws with United and Basel.

• Benfica last welcomed Romanian visitors when facing FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 32 – substitute Fabrizio Miccoli's 90th-minute goal secured a 1-0 win en route to a 3-1 aggregate success. Captain Luisão is the squad's only survivor from that tie.

• The Portuguese team's home record against Romanian clubs is W3 D1 L1.

• Prior to this season Oţelul had made only one previous visit to a European Cup-winning side, when going down 5-0 at Juventus back in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup first round. This is now their second trip in as many away games after the 2-0 loss at United on matchday four.

Team ties
• Dorinel Munteanu, the Oţelul coach, had his first taste of European club football in Lisbon as a 23-year-old midfielder in the Dinamo Bucureşti team beaten 1-0 by Sporting Clube de Portugal in a 1991/92 UEFA Cup first-round tie. He played every minute of that match and of the subsequent second leg in Romania, helping Dinamo progress with a 2-0 extra-time victory.

• Munteanu scored the only goal for Romania when they beat Portugal 1-0 in Lisbon in UEFA EURO 2000 qualifying in October 1998. He played in the 1-1 return draw too but suffered a less happy outcome against the Portuguese in the finals themselves, as Romania went down 1-0 in a group stage encounter.

• Benfica's Óscar Cardozo came off the bench to score an 81st-minute winner for Paraguay against a Peru side who sent on Oţelul forward Daniel Chávez 60 seconds after his goal in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Asuncion in October 2008. Chávez was an unused substitute when Luisão's Brazil beat Peru 3-0 in Porto Alegre in April 2009.

• Luisão and Cardozo both played in friendly matches against Romania in June, helping their respective Brazil and Paraguay sides to 1-0 and 2-0 wins.