Barcelona keen to inflict more Milan misery

FC Barcelona have the opportunity to increase their lead at the top of Group H when they host AC Milan on matchday four.

• Gerardo Martino's Spanish title holders go into the game two points clear of second-placed Milan following the clubs' 1-1 draw at San Siro on 22 October and would take a big step towards a tenth successive appearance in the knockout rounds with a home victory.

• Milan will go to the group summit with a victory but they are visiting a stadium where their UEFA Champions League ambitions were extinguished by defeats in each of the last two seasons.

Previous meetings
• These famous names have squared off 18 times, Barcelona recording seven wins to Milan's five and scoring 27 goals to the Italian side's 22. Barcelona's record at home against the Rossoneri reads W4 D3 L1.

• Massimiliano Allegri's Milan won 2-0 at San Siro in the first leg of last season's last-16 encounter, Kevin-Prince Boateng (57) and Sulley Muntari (81) the scorers. Barcelona hit back, however, with four unanswered goals at the Camp Nou, Lionel Messi (5, 40), David Villa (55) and Jordi Alba (90) securing a 4-2 aggregate success.

• Jordi Roura was in charge of Barcelona for that last Camp Nou meeting on 12 March and the lineups were:
Barcelona: Valdés, Daniel Alves, Piqué, Mascherano (Puyol 77), Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Villa (Sánchez 75), Messi, Pedro (Adriano 84).
Milan: Abbiati, Abate, Mexès, Zapata, Constant, Flamini (Bojan 74), Ambrosini (Muntari 60), Montolivo, Boateng, El Shaarawy, Niang (Robinho 60).

• Barcelona earned a goalless draw at Milan in the first leg of their 2011/12 quarter-final meeting before prevailing 3-1 in the return. Messi hit two first-half penalties, either side of an Antonio Nocerino equaliser (32), with Andrés Iniesta (53) cementing victory for Josep Guardiola's side.

• The clubs also met in that season's group stage, Barcelona taking four points to consign Milan to second place. At the Camp Nou it finished 2-2, Thiago Silva (92) scoring Milan's equaliser after Pedro Rodríguez and Villa had overturned Pato's first-minute goal.

• Barcelona subsequently won 3-2 in Milan, Xavi Hernández hitting a 63rd-minute winner after Zlatan Ibrahimović and Boateng had cancelled out Mark van Bommel's own goal and Messi's penalty respectively.

• Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona were 1-0 aggregate winners against Carlo Ancelotti's Milan in the 2005/06 semi-finals, Ludovic Giuly's strike at San Siro proving decisive in a first leg featuring Víctor Valdés, Carles Puyol and Iniesta for Barcelona.

• Valdés, Puyol, Xavi and Iniesta are survivors of the clubs' encounters in the 2004/05 group stage. After losing 1-0 at San Siro a fortnight earlier, Barcelona made amends with a 2-1 home success on 2 November 2004, and ended up second behind Milan in a group also containing Celtic FC.

• The clubs' most high-profile encounter was the 1994 UEFA Champions League final, Fabio Capello's Milan winning 4-0 with goals from Daniele Massaro (22, 45), Dejan Savićević (47) and Marcel Desailly (58). Milan also prevailed when the pair met in the 1989 UEFA Super Cup, winning 1-0 at home after a 1-1 away draw.

• Barcelona won the sides' first two-legged contest 7-1 on aggregate in the first round of the 1959/60 European Champion Clubs' Cup.

Match background
• Barcelona got back to winning ways at the Camp Nou with their 4-0 victory over AFC Ajax on matchday one. Their 3-0 semi-final home loss to FC Bayern München in May is their only defeat in their last 23 UEFA Champions League home fixtures.

• Milan are unbeaten on their travels in this season's competition, having drawn 1-1 at PSV Eindhoven in the play-offs and AFC Ajax on matchday two.

• Milan lost twice in Spain last term, going down 1-0 at Málaga CF in the group stage in addition to their 4-0 reverse at Barcelona.

• Milan's overall away record against teams from Spain is W4 D6 L14. The Rossoneri have not won on any of their last five visits to the country, their last success having come in the 2009/10 group stage when Pato's 88th-minute strike sealed a 3-2 victory at Real Madrid CF.

• Barcelona's overall record against Italian visitors is W12 D5 L2.

• Barcelona won their first European Cup by beating UC Sampdoria 1-0 in the final at Wembley in 1992.

• Milan lost their first European Cup final 3-2 to Real Madrid in 1957/58.

Team ties
• Neymar scored for Brazil in a 4-2 win over an Italy side including Ignazio Abate, Mattia De Sciglio, Riccardo Montolivo, Stephan El Shaarawy and Mario Balotelli in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup group stage.

• Only Montolivo played when Italy then faced Spain in a goalless semi-final. Montolivo scored his spot kick in the ensuing shoot-out but Xavi, Iniesta, Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets all converted theirs too as Spain won 7-6. Jordi Alba and Pedro also featured for the world champions.

• Abate, Montolivo and Balotelli played in Italy's 4-0 defeat by Spain in the UEFA EURO 2012 final. Alba was among the scorers for a Spain side also featuring Piqué, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Cesc Fàbregas, and second-half substitute Pedro.

• Fàbregas had earlier scored in the countries' 1-1 group stage draw where the only Milan representative was Nocerino.

• Fàbregas hit the winning penalty when Spain overcame Italy in the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-finals and struck Arsenal FC's opener in a 2-0 victory at Milan in the second leg of the 2007/08 round of 16, securing an identical aggregate success.

• Iniesta scored the extra-time winner as Spain overcame a Netherlands side featuring Nigel de Jong in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final.

• Christian Abbiati (Club Atlético de Madrid), Cristián Zapata (Villarreal CF), Kaká and Robinho (Real Madrid) have all had spells in Spanish football.

• Kaká failed to win in five visits to the Camp Nou with Madrid, recording three draws and two defeats. Robinho tasted victory at Barcelona once – a 1-0 Liga success in December 2007 – while Christian Zapata suffered a 5-0 defeat there with Villarreal in August 2011.

• Alexis Sánchez scored in Udinese Calcio's 4-4 draw at Milan in 2010/11. That was his solitary goal in seven league and cup meetings with Milan for Udinese.

• Javier Mascherano was in the Liverpool FC team beaten 2-1 by Milan in the 2007 UEFA Champions League final.