Braga v Fenerbahçe background

Fenerbahçe SK's significant Portuguese contingent face a long journey home for the conclusion of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie with SC Braga.

Previous meetings
• Mehmet Topal's late goal secured a 1-0 win for Fenerbahçe in the sides' first UEFA meeting. It was Braga's first defeat in four trips to Turkey (W3 L1).

• Braga's record in seven UEFA games against Turkish clubs is W4 D0 L3 (W1 D0 L2 at home – W3 D0 L1 in Turkey). They have lost their two most recent home meetings with Turkish sides.

• Fenerbahçe's record in nine matches against Portuguese teams is W5 D0 L4 (W4 D0 L1 at home – W1 D0 L3 in Portugal). They have lost both of their two games in Portugal this century by 3-1 margins.

Form guide
• Braga are unbeaten at home in Europe this season (W3 D1), but only once in 14 UEFA home matches since they reached the 2011 UEFA Europa League final have they won by a margin of more than one goal – beating NK Maribor 5-1 in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Fenerbahçe's away record this season suggests they should hang on for an aggregate victory; they are unbeaten in five UEFA Europa League games on the road (W2 D3).

• Braga are through to the round of 16 for the first time since their finest campaign in Europe, when they were losing UEFA Europa League finalists in 2011 – having transferred over after the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Fenerbahçe went all the way to the semi-finals when they last contested the round of 16 in 2012/13. That was their best ever campaign in this competition.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Istanbul to Braga is around 3,100km, making Fenerbahçe's the longest trip of matchday ten by some distance.

• Fenerbahçe midfielder Raul Meireles turns 33 the day of the second leg.

• Three Portuguese players represent Fenerbahçe: Meireles, Nani and Bruno Alves.

• Both the clubs' coaches – and a good number of their players – have been at FC Porto: Braga's Alan (2005–08), André Pinto (2008–12), Josué (2013–14) and Fenerbahçe's Meireles (2004–10), Diego (2004–06), Souza (2010–12), Alves (2001–10), while Fabiano (2012–) and Abdoulaye Ba (2010–) are both on loan to the Yellow Canaries from the Portuguese outfit.

• Braga boss Paulo Fonseca replaced Vítor Pereira as Porto coach in summer 2013. He coached Fenerbahçe's Fabiano and Ba during his time in the Porto dug-out, from 2013–14.

• Fenerbahçe coach Pereira led Porto from 2011–13, with Fenerbahçe's André Pinto one of his players at the Estadio do Dragão.

The coaches
• Appointed to the Braga hot seat last summer, former defender Paulo Fonseca, 43, had a low-key playing career. Having made his name in the second division as boss of CD Aves, Fonseca twice coached FC Paços de Ferreira in the top flight either side of a stint at Porto, where he was once on the books as a player.

• Fenerbahçe boss since June, Portuguese technician Pereira was André Villas-Boas's assistant when Porto claimed the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League. The 47-year-old later landed two league titles as the Dragons' coach and a domestic double in Greece with Olympiacos FC in 2014/15. He hails from Espinho, which is about an hour's drive south of Braga.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Braga won their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
W 5-4 A v Udinese Calcio (2012/13 UEFA Champions League play-offs)

• Fenerbahçe won their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
W 3-2 A v Sevilla FC (2007/08 UEFA Champions League round of 16)