Olympiacos buoyed for Bernabéu test

Olympiacos CFP will travel to Real Madrid CF buoyed by their victory at Werder Bremen on Matchday 2 – their first ever away success in the UEFA Champions League.

• The Greek champions had gone 31 games without a victory on the road in Europe's élite club competition but that all changed with a 3-1 comeback triumph in Bremen that came courtesy of goals in the closing 17 minutes from Ieroklis Stoltidis, Christos Patsatzoglou and Darko Kovačević.

• Olympiacos's win left them top of Group C, level on four points with Madrid but ahead on goal difference. Victory for either side at the Santiago Bernabéu will duly ensure an outright lead in the section at the midway point of the group stage.

• Madrid drew 2-2 at S.S. Lazio last time out, twice seeing Ruud van Nistelrooy strikes cancelled out by Goran Pandev. The Spanish champions had previously opened their campaign by beating Bremen at home via goals from Raúl González and Van Nistelrooy.

• Prior to earning that long sought-after away success, Olympiacos were held 1-1 at home by Lazio on Matchday 1, Luciano Galletti giving them the lead before a late equaliser from Luciano Zauri.

• Olympiacos beat Madrid for the first time in six attempts when the teams last met at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium on 6 December 2005. Madrid, who had already secured their last-16 place, led at the break through a Sergio Ramos goal but the hosts battled back to earn their only win of the 2005/06 group stage through strikes from Erol Bulut and Rivaldo.

• The teams that night were:
Olympiacos: Antonios Nikopolidis, Pantelis Kafes, Michail Kapsis, Ieroklis Stoltidis, Rivaldo, Predrag Djordjević, Gabriel Schürrer, Dimitrios Mavrogenidis, Yaya Touré, Dani García, Erol Bulut.
Real Madrid: Diego López, Sergio Ramos, Julio Baptista, Robinho, Raúl Bravo, Thomas Gravesen, Carlos Diogo, Francisco Pavón, Roberto Soldado, Rubén de la Red, Javier Ángel Balboa.

• Madrid's Raúl and Djordjević of Olympiacos are survivors of the clubs' first ever encounter on 22 October 1997 – almost ten years ago to the day of this game – and a match the Spanish side won 5-1. Raúl also featured and scored in Madrid's two subsequent victories over Olympiacos at the Bernabéu, 3-0 in December 2001 and 2-1 in September 2005.

• Overall, Madrid have an excellent home record against Greek opposition, having recorded five wins and one draw in six matches.

• By contrast, Olympiacos's record in Spain makes unhappy reading for the visitors with nine defeats, two draws and not a single victory in eleven outings on Spanish soil. Last season they lost both home and away to Valencia CF in the group stage.

• Olympiacos defender Raúl Bravo needs no briefing on his side's opponents. The Spanish international began his career at Madrid and only left the club in the summer, joining Olympiacos on a four-year contract in July. He made 23 appearances for Madrid in the UEFA Champions League and was part of their Spanish title-winning squad in 2006/07.

• Two other Olympiacos players familiar to Madrid fans are ex-Real Sociedad de Fútbol striker Kovacević and Argentinian forward Galletti, formerly with Real Zarazoga and Club Atlético de Madrid. Indeed Kovacević was a regular scorer against Madrid during his two spells with 'la Real' – his goals including the opener in a 4-1 home defeat for the Merengues in the final match of the 2003/04 season.

• Madrid coach Schuster was a player in the Atlético side that eliminated Olympiacos from the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in the 1992/93 season, winning 3-1 in the Spanish capital after a 1-1 draw in Greece.