Porto v BATE background

FC Porto begin a 19th group stage campaign determined to put last year's poor home results in the UEFA Champions League behind them as they seek an opening-night win against FC BATE Borisov.

Match background

Porto
• Porto qualified with a 2-0 home win in the play-offs against LOSC Lille. Yacine Brahimi and Jackson Martínez scored second-half goals to seal a 3-0 aggregate success. Hector Herrera was on target in the away leg.

• Porto have never played a club from Belarus. Last season, they failed to win any of their three home group matches, losing twice and drawing the other, and finished third in their section.

• Transferring to the UEFA Europa League they reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by eventual winners Sevilla FC, a 1-0 home win overturned in a 4-1 away defeat.

• In the previous rounds they had drawn with Eintracht Frankfurt at home, eventually going through on away goals after drawing 5-5 on aggregate, and beat SSC Napoli at home en route to a 3-2 aggregate success.

• The new Porto coach, Julen Lopetegui, was appointed at the end of last season after guiding Spain to victory at the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

BATE
• BATE's two previous Portuguese assignments, both in the UEFA Europa League, brought contrasting results. In the 2009/10 group stage they lost 2-0 away to SL Benfica and 2-1 at home. In the following year's play-offs, they won 2-1 away to CS Marítimo after a 3-0 home success.

• BATE are in the group stage for the fourth time overall, and the third time in four seasons.

• In Aleksandr Yermakovich's European bow as coach, BATE beat KS Skënderbeu in this season's second qualifying round, thanks to Anri Khagush's goal in a 1-1 away draw after a goalless home leg.

• They then overturned a 1-0 reverse away and went behind at home before winning 3-1 against Debreceni VSC, through goals from Aleksandr Volodko, Vitali Rodionov and Sergei Krivets.

• Another 1-1 away draw paved the way for a 3-0 home win (Mikhail Gordeychuk, Krivets and Rodionov on target) and a 4-1 aggregate success against ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the play-offs.

• BATE's three previous group stage campaigns, in 2008/09, 2011/12 and 2012/13, all came under former coach Viktor Goncharenko, who left for FC Kuban Krasnodar in October 2013.

• Two seasons ago, the Belarusian champions won at LOSC Lille and then beat FC Bayern München, who would go on to lift the trophy at the end of the season, by the same 3-1 scoreline.

• They lost the remaining four games and finished third in the group. In the UEFA Europa League they fell at the first hurdle, losing to Fenerbahçe SK 1-0 away and on aggregate.

• BATE have lost their last three European away games, not including qualifiers.

• They are unbeaten in their last three opening-day fixtures in the group stage of a European competition, the win against LOSC following two draws.

Match facts

Porto

• The visit of BATE will be Porto's 200th European Cup fixture, qualifying included.

• Porto won their first five games this season without conceding a goal – a club record. Both runs were ended by Sunday's 1-1 draw with Vitória SC.

• Jackson Martínez, the Portuguese Liga's top scorer in each of the last two campaigns with 46 goals in 60 outings combined, has scored six goals in five club appearances this term. That includes a penalty on Sunday, his 100th Porto appearance,

• Aged 17 years and 155 days, Rúben Neves became Porto's youngest-ever goalscorer when he struck against CS Marítimo on 15 August. Four days later, in the play-off first leg away to LOSC Lille, he became the youngest Portuguese player to appear in UEFA club competition.

• Bruno Martins Indi was sent off after nine minutes as the Netherlands lost 2-0 to Italy in a friendly on 4 September.

• Vincent Aboubakar, an August signing from FC Lorient, scored three goals in Cameroon's Africa Cup of Nations qualifying defeats of DR Congo (2-0) and Ivory Coast (4-1) on 6 and 10 September respectively. He made his first Porto appearance on Sunday.

• Neves made his debut for Portugal U21s on 9 September in a 3-1 triumph over Azerbaijan.

• Óliver Torres has not featured since injuring his right shoulder after opening the scoring during a 3-0 win against Moreirense FC on 31 August.

BATE

• BATE finished top of the Belarusian Premier League, two points clear of FC Dinamo Minsk, after the 22-game regular season.

• BATE are 22 top-flight matches unbeaten (15 wins and seven draws) since a 2-0 defeat at FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk on 29 March.

• Sergei Krivets, BATE's ten-goal top scorer in the league in 2014, joined FC Metz after helping Aleksandr Yermakovich's men qualify for the group stage.

• BATE have not lost at home in any competition since a 1-0 reverse against FC Torpedo Zhodino on 29 September 2013.

• Edgar Olekhnovich and Ilya Aleksievich scored their first international goals in Belarus's 6-1 triumph over Tajikistan on 4 September.