Napoli look to increase Marseille's travel pain

SSC Napoli gained three points from their first home game in Group F and will be hoping to inflict a similar defeat on Olympique de Marseille having already won in France.

• Victors against Borussia Dortmund on matchday one, Napoli came unstuck in their second fixture, losing 2-0 at Arsenal FC, while Marseille began with a 2-1 home defeat against the Gunners and subsequently went down 3-0 in Germany. The French club made it three losses from three with a 2-1 defeat by Napoli last time out.

Previous meetings
• The sides had not met before the Stade Vélodrome game on 22 October.

• Napoli, in only their second UEFA Champions League group stage campaign, had not encountered French opponents since the 1992/93 UEFA Cup second round when a 2-0 home defeat against Paris Saint-Germain FC in which George Weah got both goals preceded a 0-0 draw away.

• Before the matchday three fixture, Napoli had scored only two goals in six contests with Ligue 1 clubs, winning 1-0 at home to Toulouse FC in the 1986/87 UEFA Cup first round first leg and by the same score at FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the third round of the same competition two years later. However, while the Italian club won by the same aggregate score in that 1988/89 tie, when they went on to lift the trophy, they lost 4-3 on penalties to Toulouse.

• Marseille took on FC Internazionale Milano in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League round of 16, losing the away leg 2-1 but going through on away goals after a 1-0 win at home courtesy of an André Ayew goal in added time.

• It was OM's first defeat in Italy in four games; previously they had drawn 1-1 at AC Milan in the 2009/10 group stage and against SS Lazio in the 2005 Intertoto Cup semi-final. Before that they had won 1-0 away to Inter in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup quarter-final, going through 2-0 on aggregate.

• OM's overall results against Serie A sides are W7 D5 L7.

• Marseille beat Milan 1-0 in the 1993 UEFA Champions League final but lost 3-0 against Parma FC in the 1999 UEFA Cup final.

Match background
• Since returning to continental competition in 2008 after an absence of 13 years, Napoli had established a formidable home record and went unbeaten in 14 matches before PSV Eindhoven won 3-1 at the Stadio San Paolo in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage. It was the Serie A side's first home loss since a December 1994 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Cup third round.

• FC Viktoria Plzeň were also victorious in Naples last season, winning 3-0 in the round of 32 en route to a 5-0 aggregate triumph, meaning Napoli had lost their last two European home games before the matchday one success against Dortmund.

•  Élie Baup's Marseille are 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.

• They lost their last two away games in 2011/12, meaning they are on a three-match losing run on their travels in the UEFA Champions League.

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

Team ties
• Rafael Benítez led Valencia CF to the 2003/04 UEFA Cup by beating OM 2-0 in the Gothenburg final.

• Benitez's Liverpool FC overcame Baup's Toulouse in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round in 2007, winning 1-0 away and 4-0 at home.

• Mathieu Valbuena scored France's opening goal in a 2-1 friendly international win against an Italy side featuring Christian Maggio in Parma on 14 November 2012.

• Gonzalo Higuaín was born in Brest, France where his father Jorge was playing as a defender for Stade Brestois 29 in 1987/88. The Argentinian international striker has French citizenship. 

• Abedi Pelé, the father of André and Jordan Ayew, played in Serie A with Torino FC between 1994 and 1996.

• Gennaro Bracigliano's father was born in Campania, the region of Naples.