Olympiacos seek flying start against PSG

Olympiacos FC tackle French opponents in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the third season in a row and, against Paris Saint-Germain FC, they will be looking to improve on a losing start to each of the last two campaigns.

Previous meetings
• The sides are facing each other for the first time and it is the first time PSG have tackled a Greek side in the UEFA Champions League.

• The Greek champions have a long history against French opposition and were paired with Montpellier Hérault SC last season, Olympique de Marseille the previous year and FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the 2009/10 round of 16.

• In 26 games Olympiacos have a record of W10 D3 L13 (W6 D2 L5 at home). Last season they beat Montpellier 3-1 at home and 2-1 away, Kostas Mitroglou scoring in both games.

• That home win ended a run of four successive losses inflicted on Olympiacos by French visitors. One of those came the previous season against Marseille (0-1) although victory by the same scoreline in the reverse fixture ended a run of seven successive defeats, home and away, against Ligue 1 clubs.

• PSG are unbeaten in all seven of their contests against Greek sides, winning six and drawing one, and are yet to concede a goal. They last visited Greece for a 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 32 tie against AEK Athens FC, winning 2-0 and the home leg by the same score a week later. 

Match background
• Olympiacos are in their 15th participation, with their best achievement a run to the 1998/99 quarter-finals.

• Last season they finished third in Group B. After losing 2-1 at home to FC Schalke 04 on matchday one they won their two other home games, against Montpellier and against Arsenal FC, the latter victory extending their run of home success to seven wins in nine group games.

• Olympiacos also finished third in their group in 2011/12 when they again lost their matchday one home fixture, against Marseille.

• In the UEFA Champions League for the sixth time, last year PSG finished top of their group and progressed to the quarter-finals where they drew 2-2 at home to FC Barcelona and 1-1 in Spain, losing on away goals. They started the campaign with a 4-1 home win against FC Dynamo Kyiv and on their travels lost 1-0 at FC Porto before beating both GNK Dinamo Zagreb and Dynamo 2-0.

• The French champions also won away in the round of 16, 2-1 at Valencia CF, with the home leg ending 1-1.

Team ties
• Laurent Blanc and Míchel faced each other when France and Spain met in a UEFA EURO '92 qualifier in Paris on 20 February 1991. Blanc scored France's final goal in a 3-1 win.

• Blanc and Olympiacos' former player and current strategic adviser Christian Karembeu were members of the France team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.

• Blanc started all four of Manchester United FC's UEFA Champions League first group stage games against Olympiacos in 2001/02 and 2002/03, all ending in United victories. Blanc scored the opening goal in a 3-2 win in Piraeus on 23 October 2002. 

• Several Olympiacos players have had spells at French clubs: Paulo Machado (AS Saint-Étienne and Toulouse FC), Javier Saviola (AS Monaco FC), Carl Medjani (St-Étienne, FC Lorient, FC Metz, AC Ajaccio and Monaco), Joel Campbell (Lorient), Gaëtan Bong (Metz, Tours FC and Valenciennes FC), Delvin Ndinga (AJ Auxerre and Monaco) and Sambou Yatabaré (SM Caen, Monaco and SC Bastia).

• Machado and Thiago Silva were team-mates at FC Porto in 2004/05 while Machado played with Blaise Matuidi at St-Étienne in 2008/09.

• Saviola and Thiago Motta were team-mates at FC Barcelona for three seasons from 2001.

• Medjani and Christophe Jallet were together at Lorient in 2006/07.

• Medjani scored Ajaccio's goal in a 3-1 Ligue 1 loss to PSG in October 2011.

• Gaëtan Bong scored in Valenciennes' 2-2 draw against PSG at Parc de Princes on 5 May 2010.

• Zlatan Ibrahimović scored Sweden's first goal in a 2-0 victory over Greece in a UEFA EURO 2008 group fixture in Salzburg.