Beşiktaş determined to bounce back

Beşiktaş JK were on the wrong end of a record-breaking 8-0 defeat by Liverpool FC three weeks ago but will be looking to make a swift recovery against Olympique de Marseille because there is still everything to play for in Group A of the UEFA Champions League.

• The Turkish side might prop up the table with three points but a second home win would make life very interesting and – assuming that Liverpool win their home game against FC Porto on the same night – would mean that all four teams enter the final round of games with just two points separating them. For their part, Marseille will look for the win that will take them back to first place should Porto slip up on Merseyside.

• Whatever happens, it is unlikely to be such a dispiriting experience as it was for Beşiktaş on Matchday 4 when Liverpool – whom Beşiktaş had defeated in Istanbul two weeks previously having lost 1-0 at home to Porto on Matchday 2 – rammed in six second-half goals to create a new record in the competition. In their only previous UEFA Champions League home game with opponents from France, the Istanbul club beat Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-1. In the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round they faced AJ Auxerre at home and drew 2-2.

• The first fixture between the sides proved to be Albert Emon's last UEFA Champions League game in charge of Marseille and he was replaced soon after by Erik Gerets. Emon had seen his team start the season in a low gear but a charged atmosphere inside the Stade Vélodrome proved uplifting and they went on to win 2-0.

• However Marseille, who are in their fourth participation in Europe's most prestigious club competition, left it late, centre-back Julien Rodriguez drilling in the opening goal in the 76th minute after Samir Nasri's corner had come back off a post. The Turkish side had defended stoutly up until that point, but were forced to press forward in search of an equaliser only to concede a second in added time when Djibril Cissé drove low into the corner after powering past Lamine Diatta. Prior to that game Marseille had not faced Turkish opposition in UEFA club competition.

• While Beşiktaş were being hammered at Anfield, last season's Ligue 1 runners-up were losing their unbeaten Group A record in Portugal. Gerets' team had led the section before Matchday 4 thanks to a victory at Anfield on Matchday 2 and a 1-1 draw against Porto in their third Group A game, but a late winner from Lisandro López took opponents Porto above them. Mamadou Niang had drawn Marseille level with a diving header two minutes into the second period after Tarik Sektioui had shot the Portuguese side ahead with a fine solo strike.