Blanc's Bordeaux set Scolari's first test

They were only a penalty kick away from being crowned champions of Europe last season but Chelsea FC must forget their Moscow misery as a new UEFA Champions League campaign opens with a home game against an FC Girondins de Bordeaux side who finished runners-up in the French league under coach Laurent Blanc.

• A new manager will help Chelsea's process of putting past disappointments behind them, Luiz Felipe Scolari having succeeded Avram Grant at Stamford Bridge in the summer. The former Portugal coach has to try and improve a formidable record, with the London side recording three semi-final appearances in four seasons before their defeat to Manchester United FC at the final hurdle in May.

• Chelsea are also near-impregnable on their own territory in the competition, posting a run of 12 UEFA Champions League games without defeat, winning nine and drawing three. They were last beaten at home in February 2006 when FC Barcelona triumphed 2-1 in the first knockout round first leg.

• Last season, they won four of their six home fixtures but for only the second time in their six group-stage campaigns to date, Chelsea failed to start with a victory. Rosenborg BK held José Mourinho's team to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Matchday 1, a game which was quickly followed by the departure of the coach. Nevertheless, Chelsea still came out on top of their group, an achievement they have managed in four of the last five seasons.

• After overcoming their semi-final nemesis, Liverpool FC, in the last four, Chelsea had high hopes that they could defeat another English rival in the final, but after a 1-1 draw in the Luzhniki Stadium United prevailed 6-5 on penalties.

• A draw was also the outcome the last two times Chelsea hosted visitors from France. It ended 0-0 with Paris Saint-Germain FC in the 2004/05 group stage and 2-2 against AS Monaco FC in the previous season's semi-final second leg. That was the first of three semi-final defeats – Chelsea finally broke that particular sequence last season – with Monaco having won the first game 3-1. Chelsea also faced French opposition in their first UEFA Champions League season in 1999/00, beating Olympique de Marseille 1-0 at home in the second group stage.

• These teams have never met in European club competition and Bordeaux have still to experience victory against English opponents. They have lost all three of their previous away games and failed to register a goal, losing 3-0 to Liverpool FC in the 2006/07 group stage, 2-0 to Manchester United in the 1999/00 second group stage and 1-0 to Aston Villa FC in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup first round. Nor can it be said that they have dominated English opposition at home, losing against two of those opponents with the other game against Villa ending 0-0.

• It also ended goalless on the two previous occasions Bordeaux started a UEFA Champions League campaign. They began with a 0-0 stalemate away to Galatasaray AŞ in 2006/07 and failed to score in any of their first four games. They then went on a goal spree, scoring three times in each of their next two matches – including a 3-1 success at PSV Eindhoven – but that was not enough to send them through to the knockout rounds. In 1999/2000, Bordeaux began with a 0-0 draw at AC Sparta Praha but then won their next three fixtures to finish top of Group G. No wins in the second group stage meant they finished bottom of the pool.

• As a central defender with Manchester United FC between 2001 and 2003, Blanc faced Chelsea and featured in a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

• Blanc was part of France's victorious squad at UEFA EURO 2000™ along with Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka.

• Bordeaux midfielder Alou Diarra has played in the same France side as Anelka and his Chelsea team-mate Florent Malouda.

• Michael Ballack and Bordeaux defender Diego Placente were team-mates at Bayer 04 Leverkusen between 2001 and 2002.

• AS Roma and CFR 1907 Cluj meet in Group A's other Matchday 1 fixture.