Dortmund have reason to be wary of Marseille visit

Borussia Dortmund's first home game in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League puts them up against Olympique de Marseille who have memories of a recent victory at the BVB Stadion.

• Both teams have ground to make up in Group F having both lost 2-1 on matchday one, Dortmund going down at SSC Napoli and Marseille falling to Arsenal FC at the Stade Vélodrome.

Previous meetings
• The teams met in the group stage two years ago when Marseille won 3-0 at home and 3-2 away.

• At the Stade Vélodrome, the first competitive fixture between the teams, OM took the points thanks to goals from André Ayew (20, 69 pen) either side of Loïc Rémy's 62nd-minute effort. The hosts had substitute Jordan Ayew sent off late on.

• That last encounter, on matchday six, propelled Marseille to the round of 16 in dramatic circumstances. Dortmund, still with hopes of qualifying themselves, built a 2-0 lead through Jakub Błaszczykowski (23) and a Mats Hummels penalty (32). Marseille responded through Rémy (45+4) and André Ayew (84) but were still going out until substitute Mathieu Valbuena hit an 87th-minute winner.

• The lineups on 6 December 2011 were:
Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Felipe Santana, Hummels, Löwe, Błaszczykowski, Gündoğan, Kehl (Da Silva 32), Götze (Perišić 46), Lewandowski, Barrios (Kagawa 63).
Marseille: Mandanda, Azpilicueta, Diawara, N'Koulou, Traoré, Amalfitano, Diarra, Mbia (Cheyrou 46), A Ayew, Lucho González (J Ayew 67), Rémy (Valbuena 73).

• That was Dortmund's first home defeat in seven games against French visitors; previously they had recorded three wins and three draws. In total their 14 games against French opponents ended W4 D5 L5.

• It was Marseille's first victory in five visits to Germany and only the second time they had found the net. They have since gone down 2-0 away to FC Bayern München (a 4-0 aggregate defeat) in the 2011/12 quarter-final, and 2-0 at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage after a 2-2 home draw in which Jordan Ayew scored.

• Marseille's overall record in 14 fixtures against German sides is W5 D3 L6 (W1 D2 L4 in Germany).

Match background
• Dortmund, who are in their ninth participation in the UEFA Champions League, will be looking to go one step further than last year. In their most successful campaign since winning the 1997 UEFA Champions League, they remained unbeaten until the semi-final second leg when they went down 2-0 at Real Madrid CF.

• It did not prevent Jürgen Klopp's team, 4-1 winners in the home leg, from advancing to the Wembley final where FC Bayern München beat them 2-1.

• The Madrid home win maintained Dortmund's 100% record at their own stadium in the campaign and was their second success there against the Merengues, who they had beaten 2-1 in the group stage. They also saw off AFC Ajax and Manchester City FC, both 1-0, and in the knockout rounds won 3-0 at home to FC Shakhtar Donetsk (5-2 aggregate), and 3-2 against Málaga CF after the away leg had finished goalless.

• Marseille are also in their ninth UEFA Champions League campaign with last season's absence ending a run of five successive years in the competition. The quarter-final appearance two years ago was their first since becoming the tournament's inaugural winners in 1993.

• In last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, OM lost at Mönchengladbach and AEL Limassol FC (0-3) and drew 2-2 at Fenerbahçe SK.

Team ties
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has played for four clubs in France: LOSC Lille and Dijon FCO (2009/10), AS Monaco FC (2010/11) and AS Saint-Étienne (2011-13). His record in seven meetings with OM is one win, three draws and three defeats.

• Aubameyang gave Gabon the lead against Souleymane Diawara's Senegal in a friendly played in Sannois Saint-Gratien on 17 November 2010, Senegal recovering to win 2-1.

• Aubameyang scored the second-half goal that give Gabon a 1-0 win against Saber Khalifa's Tunisia during the group stage of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

• On 6 February 2013, Valbuena scored the opening goal in France's 2-1 defeat in a friendly against Germany at the Stade de France. Hummels and İlkay Gündoğan featured for the visitors.