Benfica bid for eighth win in a row against Olympiacos

SL Benfica and Olympiacos FC will both be looking for their second win in Group C when they come face to face in Lisbon on matchday three.

• Benfica followed their 2-0 home victory over RSC Anderlecht by losing 3-0 away to Paris Saint-Germain FC while the Greek champions went down 4-1 at home to PSG but bounced back in Belgium, winning 3-0.

Previous meetings
• The clubs met in Piraeus in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage when Olympiacos won 5-1. They took an early 3-0 lead with goals from Luciano Galletti (1), Christos Patsatzoglou (17) and Diogo (24) and led 4-1 at half-time after David Luiz (33) had pulled one back and Fernando Belluschi (44) had restored the three-goal difference. Diogo (53) completed the scoring; Maxi Pereira and Rúben Amorim both featured for Benfica with Óscar Cardozo on the bench and Avraam Papadopoulos in the home team.

• The teams at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on 27 November 2008 were:
Olympiacos: Nikopolidis, Patsatzoglou, Domi, Galletti (Leto 59), Santo (Kovačević 69), P Djordjević, Antzas, Dudu, Papadopoulos, Belluschi (Óscar González 76), Pantos.
Benfica: Quim, Reyes, Maxi Pereira, David Luiz, Rúben Amorim (Javier Balboa 59), Binya, Jorge Ribeiro, Yebda (Carlos Martins 76), Sidnei, Suazo, Nuno Gomes (Urreta 56).

• The sides had met in the 1973/74 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round, when Benfica enjoyed 1-0 wins home and away. In the second round of the same competition ten years later, the aggregate score was 3-1 in the Portuguese side's favour, the Lisbon game ending 3-0 to the home side.

• Their five games to date have produced three wins for Benfica and two for Olympiacos. The Greek side have still to score in the Portuguese capital.

• Including those five matches, Olympiacos have played 11 matches against Portuguese opposition. Their away record is W0 D1 L4.

• Benfica have also played 11 games against Greek sides overall, winning four and losing one at home. The sole reverse was a 2-1 loss against PAOK FC in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round second leg; having won by the same score away, Benfica won the subsequent penalty shoot-out 4-1.

Match background
• Benfica, in their ninth UEFA Champions League campaign and on a run of seven successive home wins in Europe, finished third in their group last season. At home they lost 2-0 to FC Barcelona before beating FC Spartak Moskva 2-0 and Celtic FC 2-1.

• The Portuguese side subsequently entered the UEFA Europa League and won all four home games en route to the final, where they lost 2-1 to Chelsea FC.

• Olympiacos, in the group stage for the 15th time and a third season in succession, reached the 1998/99 quarter-finals.

• Last season they finished third in Group B, losing at Arsenal FC and FC Schalke 04 and winning 2-1 at Montpellier Hérault SC. The previous season they also finished third in their section, losing away against Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund while winning in France against Olympique de Marseille.

Team ties
• Javier Saviola spent three seasons with Benfica from 2009 to 2012, winning the Portuguese title in 2009/10 and the League Cup three times. In 122 matches he scored 39 goals.

• Saviola and fellow Argentinian Ezequiel Garay were team-mates at Benfica in 2011/12 having also played together at Real Madrid CF in 2008/09.

• Roberto played for Benfica in 2010/11, helping them reach the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. He made 41 starts.

• Ljubomir Fejsa spent two seasons at Olympiacos before moving to Benfica this summer. He made 33 appearances, scoring once.

• Paulo Machado is a product of FC Porto's youth system and faced Benfica on six occasions with CF Estrela da Amadora, UD Leiria and Leixões SC. He scored Amadora's goal in a 2-1 home defeat by Benfica on 4 March 2006.

• Machado is a team-mate of Rúben Amorim, Sílvio, André Almeida and André Gomes with Portugal.

• Leandro Salino faced Benfica 12 times while with CD Nacional and SC Braga. In the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League semi-finals he helped Braga overcome Benfica to advance to the final.

• During three years at Braga, Salino was a team-mate of Sílvio, Artur, Lima and Rúben Amorim.

• The Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica has special meaning for Greek football as it is where Greece were crowned UEFA EURO 2004 champions by beating Portugal 1-0.