Atlético's home form a worry for Porto

Club Atlético de Madrid have made a successful return to the UEFA Champions League so far and, as they embark on the knockout rounds, will be hoping to avoid a repeat of their previous campaign 12 years ago, which ended in defeat in the first round after the group stage.

• However the Spanish club know they face a severe test in this all-Iberian contest with a visit from an FC Porto side who put Arsenal FC in the shade as they finished top of their group.

• Both Atlético and Porto accrued 12 points from their six fixtures with Atlético hopeful they could finish in first place in Group D as Matchday 6 dawned. However, a 0-0 draw away to Olympique de Marseille meant they fell short of Liverpool FC, whose win at PSV Eindhoven meant they finished two points ahead of their Spanish rivals.

• The Vicente Calderón Stadium has once again proved a daunting arena for opponents this season with Atlético winning two of their three home games and drawing the other. It means that Atlético, beaten finalists in 1974, have only lost three of their 26 home games in the European Champion Clubs' Cup with 19 wins and four draws. One of those defeats ended their last campaign in Europe's most prestigious club trophy, in 1996/97, when after a 1-1 draw away to AFC Ajax in the quarter-finals, they went down 3-2 at home after extra time.

• On their travels the Spanish side – who replaced coach Javier Aguirre with Abel Resino at the start of February – have also performed creditably in the competition so far, starting off with a superb 3-0 triumph in the Netherlands against PSV. They followed that with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool before finishing up with the scoreless encounter in Marseille.

• The teams have met on only one previous occasion in a competitive fixture, the 1963/64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round. That went Atlético's way thanks to a 2-1 home win, with the game in Portugal ending 0-0. In UEFA club competition the Spanish side have won their only two previous home fixtures against Portuguese opponents, both in the UEFA Cup. They first saw off Boavista FC 3-1 in the 1981/82 first round and then Vitória SC 1-0 in the 1986/87 second round, although in each case they had lost the away leg and failed to go through.

• Porto's qualification continues a trend because only once in the previous five campaigns have they failed to progress beyond the group stage. They will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the last two seasons, however, when in each case they exited the competition in the last 16. Twelve months ago they were beaten 4-1 on penalties by FC Schalke 04 at the Estádio do Dragão after a 1-1 draw over the two legs, and the previous year they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea FC.

• A 2-0 home victory against Arsenal on Matchday 6 enabled the Portuguese champions to qualify as group winners. In their away games in Group G, Jesualdo Ferreira's side began badly with a 4-0 defeat at Arsenal but made amends with 2-1 triumphs at FC Dynamo Kyiv and Fenerbahçe SK. They have won five of their last ten away games in the competition.

• Porto, twice winners of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, have happy memories of their last trip to Spain for an official game because it took them through to the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League final – and subsequent triumph against AS Monaco FC. Their 1-0 victory at RC Deportivo La Coruña in the semi-final second leg was crucial because the first game had finished 0-0. Porto have only lost one of their last four visits, drawing 1-1 with Real Madrid CF in the group stage in 2003/04 while winning 2-0 at RCD Espanyol in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup third round.

• However, their eight fixtures in Spain prior to that Espanyol triumph all ended in defeat, a 1-0 victory at FC Barcelona in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup first round the only time Porto avoided defeat in their first ten matches on their travels there. In a total of 28 games against Spanish opposition Porto have won eight, drawn three and lost 17.

• Atlético have three former Porto players in their ranks. Maniche helped the Portuguese side to the UEFA Champions League crown in 2004 and UEFA Cup victory the previous season while Paulo Assunção had two stints with the club. In 2000/01 he made 36 appearances for the B team and returned in 2004 for a four-year stay. Giourkas Seitaridis made seven UEFA Champions League appearances for Porto in 2004/05.

• Apart from Maniche, Atlético boast another UEFA Champions League winner in Luis García, who helped Liverpool to the 2004/05 crown. Winger Simão, who was named Portuguese Player of the Year in 2007, has had spells with Sporting Clube de Portugal and SL Benfica.

• Grégory Coupet played for Olympique Lyonnais in both legs of the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Porto while in the previous round, Diego Forlán had been an unused substitute in both games for Manchester United FC against Porto.

• The second leg is at the Estádio do Dragão on 11 March.