Fenerbahçe face mountainous task at Arsenal

Arsenal FC stand on the brink of a 16th consecutive UEFA Champions League campaign as they host play-off rivals Fenerbahçe SK needing only to defend their 3-0 advantage from the first leg.

• Arsène Wenger's men seized control of the tie through goals from Kieran Gibbs (51), Aaron Ramsey (64) and Olivier Giroud (77, pen), leaving Fenerbahçe with a mountain to climb in north London.

• To qualify for the group stage Fenerbahçe SK must become only the third continental opponents in 50 years to inflict on Arsenal a home defeat of three goals or more – a massive task for a team who have only scored a combined three goals on eight previous trips to England.

Past meetings
• Arsenal and Fenerbahçe drew 0-0 when they met in London in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage, the Turkish side's most recent appearance in the competition.

• The lineups on 5 November 2008 were:
Arsenal: Fabianski, Touré, Djourou, Silvestre, Clichy (Song 83), Ramsey (Diaby 60), Fàbregas, Denilson, Nasri, Bendtner (Vela 60), Van Persie.
Fenerbahçe: Volkan Demirel, Gökhan Gönül, Edu Dracena, Lugano, Roberto Carlos (Vederson 69), Maldonado (Josico 68), Selçuk Şahin, Uğur Boral, Kazım Kazım (Ali Bilgin 60), Semih Şentürk, Güiza.

• Then as now, Fenerbahçe had travelled to London smarting from a home defeat by Arsenal, Luis Aragonés's team having fallen 5-2 at the Sükrü Saraçoglu Stadium. Emmanuel Adebayor (10) and Theo Walcott (11) scored early and despite Mikaël Silvestre's own goal (19), the Gunners added further strikes by Abou Diaby (22) and Alexandre Song (49). Daniel Güiza (78) pulled one back before Ramsey (90) hit Arsenal's fifth.

• Arsenal also got the better of a Fenerbahçe team coached by Ersoy Sükrü in the first round of the 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup. Terry Neill's side – who went on to reach the final – won 2-0 at home through Alan Sunderland (30) and Willie Young (87) before a goalless draw in Istanbul.

Match background
• Fourth in the 2012/13 English Premier League, Arsenal have a 100% record in UEFA Champions League qualifiers, winning both legs as they overcame each of GNK Dinamo Zagreb (2006/07, agg 5-1), AC Sparta Praha (2007/08, agg 5-0), FC Twente (2008/09, agg 6-0), Celtic FC (2009/10, agg 5-1) and Udinese Calcio (2011/12, agg 3-1).

• Although Arsenal lost twice at home by two goals in last season's UEFA Champions League – 2-0 against FC Schalke 04 in the group stage and 3-1 against FC Bayern München in the round of 16 – only twice in their entire European history have they suffered a defeat of the kind Fenerbahçe need now. Those two heavy losses came against FC Internazionale Milano (0-3) in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage and FC Spartak Moskva (2-5) in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup first round.

• Arsenal won the four previous European ties in which they gained a first-leg lead of 3-0:
3-0 a, 2-1 h v GNK Dinamo Zagreb, 2006/07 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
3-0 h, 3-3 a v FC Nantes, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round
3-0 h, 7-0 a v R. Standard de Liège, 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
3-0 h, 4-1 a v VfB Leipzig, 1978/79 UEFA Cup first round

• League runners-up in Turkey last term, Fenerbahçe have won just once in eight previous visits to England – 1-0 at Manchester United FC in the 1996/97 group stage, Elvir Bolić scoring. Their away record against English sides is W1 D2 L5.

• The Istanbul club have suffered a 3-0 first-leg defeat in Europe only once before – away to Ruch Chorzów in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup first round, when they responded with a 1-0 home victory.

• Fenerbahçe have won five and lost just two of their last ten European away fixtures, including a 1-1 draw at FC Salzburg in this season's third qualifying round. Moreover, they twice hit four goals on their travels last term – winning 4-1 at FC Vaslui in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, and 4-2 at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Fenerbahçe missed out on a sixth group stage appearance 12 months ago, suffering a play-off defeat by FC Spartak Moskva. They went on to reach their first ever European semi-final in the UEFA Europa League before losing to SL Benfica.

• Arsenal lost the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup final 4-1 on penalties to Galatasaray AŞ after a 0-0 draw – their only other meeting with a Turkish team.

Team ties
• Besides his defeat with Arsenal against Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup final, Arsène Wenger lost to the same opponents as AS Monaco FC coach in the European Cup quarter-finals in 1988/89. Wenger's Monaco beat Galatasaray home and away in the 1993/94 group stage.

• Ersun Yanal is a UEFA Champions League debutant but when in charge of Gençlerbirliği SK, he got the better of Blackburn Rovers FC in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round, winning 3-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away.

• Emre Belözoğlu (Newcastle United FC 2005-08), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool FC), Raul Meireles (Liverpool FC 2010-11 and Chelsea FC 2011-12) and Joseph Yobo (Everton FC 2002-10) have all had spells in English football.

• Emre was in that Inter team that won 3-0 at Arsenal in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage. He later made his Premier League debut for Newcastle in a 2-0 loss at Arsenal.

• Kuyt scored in Liverpool's 1-1 draw at Arsenal en route to a 5-3 aggregate triumph in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals – one of four goals in 15 appearances against the Gunners.

• Yobo lost ten of his 13 matches against Arsenal while at Everton, including a 7-0 away defeat in 2005.

• Meireles won 2-0 at Arsenal with Liverpool in 2010/11.

• Mikel Arteta played with Yobo at Everton from 2005-2010, and against Kuyt and Meireles in Merseyside derbies when that pair were at Liverpool.

• Pierre Webó and Nacho Monreal played together at CD Osasuna in 2006/07.

• Bruno Alves was in the FC Porto team eliminated by Arsenal in the last 16 in 2009/10, winning 2-1 at home before a 5-0 away defeat – his third defeat in as many away games against the Gunners. The Portuguese defender scored in Porto's 2-0 home victory in the previous season's group stage.