Barcelona look to home comforts

FC Barcelona will hope home advantage will tell once more when they and Olympique Lyonnais reconvene at the Camp Nou for the second leg of their last-16 tie following a 1-1 first-leg draw in France.

• The two-time European champions have won their two previous meetings with Lyon in the Catalan capital and have prevailed on the past five occasions that they played the second leg of a UEFA Champions League contest on home soil.

• Josep Guardiola's side are slight favourites having fought back to hold Lyon at the Stade Gerland on 24 February, Thierry Henry's header midway through the second half cancelling out Juninho Pernambucano's seventh-minute free-kick for the hosts.

• They will know better, however, than to underestimate the French titleholders, who are unbeaten on their travels in the UEFA Champions League this term with two wins and a draw to their name.

• A glance at the history books offers further cause for caution in the home camp given Barcelona have lost all three of their previous two-legged ties against opponents from France.

• Lyon are seeking a first quarter-final in three years after elimination at this stage of the competition in 2007 and 2008. Overall the Ligue 1 side have reached the last eight three times previously – Barcelona, by contrast, are seeking their eleventh quarter-final appearance and second in succession.

• Prior to this season, Barcelona had won three of the clubs' four previous encounters.

• The teams met for the first time in the 2001/02 group stage with the Spanish outfit winning both games. Goals from Patrick Kluivert (78) and Rivaldo (87, penalty) earned Barcelona a 2-0 home success on 10 October 2001 before a dramatic return match at the Stade Gerland 13 days later.

• Trailing to early efforts by Kluivert (9) and Rivaldo (18), Lyon fought back to equalise thanks to strikes from Péguy Luyindula (66) and Eric Carrière (88) only to concede a stoppage-time winner to Gerard López – a goal that confirmed their elimination and sent Barcelona into the last 16. Sidney Govou and Juninho were in the Lyon side that evening while Xavi Hernández and Carles Puyol featured for Barcelona.

• Last season's group stage brought the clubs together for a second time and Barcelona ran out 3-0 victors in their Camp Nou encounter on 19 September 2007, Lionel Messi (82) and Henry (91) completing the scoring with late strikes after François Clerc's 21st-minute own goal.

• The full lineups for that last meeting in Spain were:
Barcelona: Victor Valdés, Gianluca Zambrotta, Rafael Márquez, Gabriel Milito, Eric Abidal, Xavi Hernández (Giovani Dos Santos), Yaya Touré, Deco, Lionel Messi (Bojan Krkić), Ronaldinho (Andrés Iniesta), Thierry Henry.
Lyon: Rémy Vercoutre, François Clerc, Sébastien Squillaci, Mathieu Bodmer, Anthony Réveillère, Jérémy Toulalan, Juninho Pernambucano, Kim Källström (Kader Keita), Nadir Belhadj (Milan Baroš), Sidney Govou, Karim Benzema (Hatem Ben Arfa).

• Lyon will prefer to focus on their fightback to claim a point in the return fixture in France on 27 November. Trailing twice to goals from Andrés Iniesta (3) and Messi (58, penalty), they replied each time through Juninho, the Brazilian firing in a seventh-minute free-kick and then making it 2-2 from the penalty spot with ten minutes remaining.

• Barcelona's record at home against French clubs is W4 D1 L1. That solitary defeat came against FC Metz in the first round of the 1984/85 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, when the Azulgrana surrendered a 4-2 first-leg advantage in spectacular fashion, going down 4-1 at the Camp Nou.

• Barcelona have never beaten French opposition over two legs, losing other ties to OGC Nice and Paris Saint-Germain FC in the past.

• Barcelona defeated PSG 1-0 in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, a match in which Guardiola featured.

• Lyon's overall away record against Spanish clubs is P6 W1 D2 L3. Their only previous victory came when they defeated Real Sociedad de Fútbol 1-0 in San Sebastian at this stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2003/04 en route to a 2-0 aggregate success. That was the only time they have faced opposition from Spain over two legs.

• The respective trainers, Barcelona's Guardiola and Lyon's Claude Puel, were in direct opposition as players back in 1993/94 and it was Guardiola, then the Spanish club's midfield metronome, who came out on top against Puel's AS Monaco FC side, winning home (2-0) and away (1-0) in the tournament's group stage. Barcelona went on to reach the final that season before losing to AC Milan.

• Lyon coach Puel must have mixed memories of facing Spanish sides as a player, and not only for those aforementioned defeats by Barcelona.

• His debut as a player in UEFA club competition came in Monaco's 5-3 aggregate loss to Valencia CF in the 1980/81 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round. Nine years later he was in the Monaco team that beat Real Valladolid CF on penalties after a 0-0 aggregate draw in the quarter-finals of that same competition.

• As a coach, Puel's Monaco side lost 4-2 on aggregate to RCD Mallorca in the 1999/00 UEFA Cup fourth round. With LOSC Lille Métropole, his charges defeated Sevilla FC 1-0 in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage but the following year saw their hopes of UEFA Champions League progress evaporate with a 1-0 loss at Villarreal CF in their final pool game. They were then knocked out of the UEFA Cup Round of 32 by Sevilla, losing 2-1 on aggregate.

• Puel worked with Barcelona pair Henry and Rafael Márquez during his time as Monaco coach and later with Eric Abidal when he was at Lille.

• Barcelona's squad includes two other players who have appeared in Ligue 1 in Seydou Keita (Olympique de Marseille, FC Lorient, RC Lens) and Yaya Touré (Monaco).

• Sonny Anderson, who played up front for both Barcelona and Lyon, now fills a dual role as club ambassador and scout for the French champions.

• Barcelona's record in penalty shoot-outs in UEFA club competition is:
5-4 v Lech Poznán, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Cup final
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Cup semi-final
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round

• Lyon have only contested one shoot-out previously, losing 4-2 to PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League.

• The draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 20 March.