Group E's bottom two lock horns in Basel

FC Basel 1893 enter their Group E showdown with CFR 1907 Cluj at St. Jakob-Park seeking to avoid a repeat of their fate in the UEFA Champions League group stage two seasons ago – when they failed to pick up a single point at home.

• The Swiss champions' 3-2 loss to AS Roma on Matchday 4 followed an earlier defeat by FC Bayern München and, moreover, dropped them to the foot of the group, level on three points with CFR.

• With CFR losing 4-0 at home to Bayern last time out, both teams fell three points behind second-placed Roma. With their prospects of UEFA Champions League progress diminished, each knows a win would at least be a significant step towards claiming third place and so guarantee participation in the UEFA Europa League in the new year.

Match background
• CFR hold the advantage going into the match as their 2-1 Matchday 1 win at home to Basel, achieved thanks to early goals from Ionuţ Rada and Lacina Traoré despite Valentin Stocker's reply on the stroke of half-time, means they only need to draw to stay above their rivals on the head-to-head rule.

• Basel's home form may offer encouragement to Sorin Cârţu's visitors. While Basel defeated Debreceni VSC (3-1) and FC Sheriff (1-0) in UEFA Champions League qualifying at St. Jakob-Park they have now suffered five straight group stage defeats at home in the competition, scoring four goals and conceding 13 in that run.

• Thorsten Fink's men are hoping to reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2002/03 when their squad included Scott Chipperfield and Benjamin Huggel – although neither actually played in the competition proper until the second group stage. Right now, however, they are more likely to finish bottom of their group as they did in 2008/09.

• They also failed to negotiate the group stage of last season's UEFA Europa League despite collecting nine points, coming third behind Roma and Fulham FC.

• CFR finished bottom of their group with four points on their UEFA Champions League debut two years ago. They took only three points in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, again coming fourth in their section.

• Since winning their first UEFA Champions League group stage match at Roma in September 2008 CFR have recorded seven defeats and one draw on the road. The Romanian titleholders could point to some bad luck on their Matchday 3 visit to Munich, though, Cadú and CFR captain Cristian Panin both scoring own goals in a 3-2 loss.

Team ties
• Basel coach Fink helped former club Karlsruher SC beat FC Rapid Bucureşti in a 1996/97 UEFA Cup first round tie – he played in both legs for a Karlsruher side that lost 1-0 in Bucharest but bounced back 4-1 at home. Fink had earlier helped Karlsruhe past FC Universitatea Craiova in the same season's UEFA Intertoto Cup competition.

• Yssouf Koné finished on the losing side when he last lined up against Samuel Inkoom, Basel's Ghana defender, Inkoom's Black Stars earning a 1-0 win against Koné's Burkina Faso in the group stage of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in January.

• CFR midfielder Sixto Peralta, who is not in the club's UEFA Champions League squad, and Basel forward Federico Almerares had a brief spell together as team-mates at CA River Plate in their native Argentina in 2007.