Porto meeting stirs 2004 memories for PSG

When Paris Saint-Germain FC last took part in the UEFA Champions League group stage FC Porto were also in their section and, eight years on, the teams renew acquaintance on matchday two.

• Both sides made victorious starts to Group A, Porto triumphing 2-0 at GNK Dinamo Zagreb while PSG were 4-1 winners at home to FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Previous meetings
• Those 2004/05 matches are the teams' only competitive contests. PSG won 2-0 in Paris thanks to goals from Charles-Édouard Coridon and Pauleta, with the reverse fixture ending goalless.

• The teams for the 0-0 draw in Porto on 2 November 2004 were:
Porto: Baía, Jorge Costa, Pedro Emanuel, Ricardo Costa, Bosingwa, Seitaridis, Quaresma (Postiga 78), Maniche, Diego (Carlos Alberto 65), Derlei, McCarthy (Almeida 65).
PSG: Letizi, Pichot, Pierre-Fanfan, Yepes, Armand, Cana, Coridon (Mendy 74), Cissé (Bošković 86), M'Bami, Pancrate, Pauleta (Ljuboja 89).

• In 2003/04, Porto got the better of three French teams en route to lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy. They beat Olympique de Marseille 3-2 away and 1-0 at home in the group stage and got the better of Olympique Lyonnais in the quarter-finals, drawing 2-2 in France after winning 2-0 at the Estádio do Dragão. They then overcame AS Monaco FC 3-0 in the Gelsenkirchen final.

• The previous year Porto had lifted the UEFA Cup, a run that included a third round success against RC Lens which was achieved through a 3-0 first-leg win at home. They lost 1-0 in France.

• French visitors have got the better of Porto on home soil once, FC Nantes winning 2-0 in the 1971/72 UEFA Cup first round to set up a 3-1 aggregate success. The other eight encounters have produced six Porto wins, two draws.

• Apart from their 2004 trip to Porto, PSG's other four matches in Portugal have come in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. They have one victory to their name, beating SC Braga 1-0 in a round of 16 encounter on 19 March 2009 to go through by the same aggregate score.

• PSG's other three visits ended in defeat, most recently 2-1 at SL Benfica in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 16. Their record against Portuguese teams home and away is W4 D3 L3. Porto's record against French sides is W9 D6 L4.

Match background
• Porto are in the group stage for the 17th time, and opened their home campaign last season with a 2-1 defeat of FC Shakhtar Donetsk before a 1-1 draw against APOEL. One goal in the matchday six home game against FC Zenit St Petersburg would have taken Porto into the knockout stages but instead the 0-0 draw consigned them to third place in Group G.

• Runners-up in Ligue 1 last season, PSG are in the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time. In their last campaign, in 2004/05, they drew 0-0 at Porto and Chelsea FC, losing 2-0 at PFC CSKA Moskva and finishing fourth in their group.

• PSG also failed to score an away goal in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, going down 2-0 at both Athletic Club and FC Salzburg and drawing 0-0 at ŠK Slovan Bratislava. They ended third in Group F.

Team ties
• Thiago Silva joined Porto in 2004 but only played in the reserve team before leaving for FC Dinamo Moskva the following year.

• Alex Sandro and Danilo play for Brazil alongside Thiago Silva, the trio helping their country to the men's Olympic silver medal in London in August. They lost the final 2-1 against Mexico.

• Lucho González scored Olympique de Marseille's goal in a 2-1 Ligue 1 defeat at PSG on 7 November 2010. The midfielder also found the net in Marseille's 3-0 win in Paris the previous season and finished on the victorious side in four of his six meetings with PSG while at OM, losing only that 2010 fixture.

• Helton was part of the UD Leiria team that lost 2-0 to Mathieu Bodmer's LOSC Lille in the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals.