Beşiktaş v Sporting CP background

Beşiktaş JK made a positive start in Group H on matchday one and will look to keep that momentum going against Sporting Clube de Portugal, though their past home results against Portuguese sides have been poor.

Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Beşiktaş's record in seven games against Portuguese clubs is W2 D1 L4 (W0 D0 L3 at home – W2 D1 L1 in Portugal).

• Sporting's record in four matches against Turkish opposition is W1 D2 L1 (W1 D0 L1 at home – W0 D2 L0 in Turkey).

Form guide
• Beşiktaş's 3-1 loss to Club Brugge KV in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 16 ended a seven-game unbeaten run at home in Europe (W5 D2).

• Sporting are without a win in 15 European away trips (D4 L11) since a 2-0 success at FC Zürich at the start of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Beşiktaş made it through last season's UEFA Europa League group stage unbeaten, then eliminated Liverpool FC on penalties before bowing out to Club Brugge.

• The competition's new identity has played well with Beşiktaş: they failed to make it through all three of their UEFA Cup group stage campaigns, but have been successful in all three of their UEFA Europa League ones.

• In five previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, Sporting have only once failed to make it to the round of 32 – in their most recent campaign, in 2012/13.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Istanbul to Lisbon is around 3,250km.

• Beşiktaş's Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma started his playing career at Sporting, leaving the club for FC Barcelona in 2004. This is the first time he has faced his erstwhile employers in a UEFA game.

• Sporting's Alberto Aquilani and Beşiktaş loanee Mario Gómez were team-mates at ACF Fiorentina last season.

• Sporting's Bryan Ruiz and Beşiktaş's Kerim Frei were team-mates at Fulham FC from 2011 to 2013.

• Sporting forward Teófilo Gutiérrez played in Turkey for Trabzonspor AŞ from 2010 to 2011, where his team-mates included Beşiktaş goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.

The coaches
• Former Trabzonspor AŞ and Turkey goalkeeper Şenol Günes took charge at Beşiktaş in June this year. He famously coached Turkey to a bronze-medal finish at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He has also won two Turkish Cups in the course of four spells as Trabzonspor coach.

• A losing UEFA Europa League finalist with SL Benfica in 2013 and 2014, Jorge Jesus unexpectedly left the Eagles for fierce local rivals Sporting this summer. The 61-year-old had started his playing career at Sporting – where his father Virgolino had also been a player – and had coached Benfica since 2009.