Zenit's chance to collect first points

Their first few steps along the UEFA Champions League road have been daunting for both FC Zenit St. Petersburg and FC BATE Borisov with their opening fixtures pitching them into battle with two of the giants of European football. Matchday 3 presents a different hurdle as the two debutant clubs face each other at the Petrovsky Stadium.

• The representatives of Russia and Belarus are both seeking their first win in the competition. Three weeks ago they scored their first goals and both put in sterling performances but one point was all they had to show for their combined efforts. That prize went to BATE although they could have been forgiven for thinking they were destined to pick up all three points as they hurled themselves at Juventus' back line and were rewarded with two goals in the opening 23 minutes.

• Sergei Kryvets and Igor Stasevich scored to underline to an exuberant home crowd that the underdogs are no respecters of reputation. However, Juventus were not going to give up without a fight and with a header followed by a low drive, Vincenzo Iaquinta brought the visitors level before the break.

• A point might have been considered a poor return for BATE's early dominance but at least it got them off the mark in Group H, having started with a 2-0 away defeat at Real Madrid CF. Zenit remain on zero points after they followed Matchday 1's narrow defeat in Turin – Alessandro Del Piero dividing the teams through a late free-kick – with a 2-1 home reverse against the Spanish titleholders.

• The Russian champions' cause was not helped when defender Tomáš Hubočan put through his own net early on. The UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup holders were rattled at that stage but gradually found their stride and when record signing Danny levelled midway through the opening period, they appeared to be building the momentum to go on and dominate. However, Madrid's response was swift and deadly, Ruud van Nistelrooy taking advantage of more defensive uncertainty to ensure Bernd Schuster's team claimed the spoils.

• This will be the first time Zenit have taken on Belarussian opposition in an official game while BATE have met Russian opponents on six previous occasions in European club competition. Their record is a dismal one, losing all six. Moreover, they have only scored a single goal in those meetings. It came in their first of the six games, a UEFA Cup qualifying round tie in the 1999/00 season and, as FC Lokomotiv Moskva rattled in seven goals of their own that day, BATE's single strike was scarcely relevant. The away leg ended 5-0 to Lokomotiv to complete a comprehensive 12-1 overall humbling for the Borisov club.

• Heavy aggregate defeats also followed in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup second qualifying round against FC Krylya Sovetov Samara (4-0) while at the same stage of the same competition the following year, FC Rubin Kazan beat them 5-0 over the two games.

• The defeat by Madrid means that Dick Advocaat's team have lost two of their last three European games on home soil. In their triumphant UEFA Cup campaign they went down 1-0 to Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the quarter-final stage but retained a substantial overall success after winning the away leg 4-1. In the three other knockout rounds they won the home legs without conceding a goal: 1-0 against Villarreal CF (Round of 32), 2-0 versus Olympique de Marseille (last 16) and 4-0 against FC Bayern München in the semi-final. They had stuttered when hosting in the group stage, though, drawing 1-1 with AZ Alkmaar and 2-2 with 1. FC Nürnberg.

• BATE were forced to come through all three qualifying rounds to become the first team from their country to compete in the group stage of Europe's premier club tournament. And their away form provided a considerable boost to their prospects. The journey started against Valur Reykjavík with a 1-0 away win sealing a 3-0 aggregate victory. A splendid 2-1 win in Brussels against RSC Anderlecht then set up a 4-3 overall success, while in the third round against PFC Levski Sofia, Viktor Goncharenko's men again laid the ground for progress to the group stage with their performance in the first leg, winning 1-0 in Bulgaria and drawing 1-1 at home.

• Advocaat was in charge of the Netherlands team who twice beat Belarus in the UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying campaign. They won 3-0 in Eindhoven and 2-0 in Minsk. Zenit's Fernando Ricksen played in the Eindhoven game on 7 September 2002.

• The other game in Group H on Matchday 3 pits Juventus against Real Madrid.