United favourites to get past Porto

The statistics suggest there should be only one possible outcome when Manchester United FC welcome FC Porto to Old Trafford for the first leg of their quarter-final.

• United are unbeaten in 21 matches in the UEFA Champions League and enter this contest also aiming to extend a run of 19 games without defeat at Old Trafford in the competition. Add the fact that Porto have never won in England, where ten of eleven visits have ended in defeat, and United start as strong favourites.

• Yet the memory of the one occasion that the Portuguese outfit did come away with something – a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the 2003/04 season – offers the visitors hope that they might overturn the odds once more. Porto eliminated United from the UEFA Champions League on 9 March 2004, Costinha's last-gasp equaliser cancelling out a Paul Scholes goal and earning a 3-2 aggregate triumph in that last-16 contest.

• As they plot another upset, Jesualdo Ferreira's men can take heart from the fact they finished ahead of another Premier League club, Arsenal FC, in the group stage and – having never lost at home to English opposition – they will strive to ensure they return from Manchester with hopes of progress still intact.

• Longer-serving Porto supporters may also recall that their club has loosened Sir Alex Ferguson's grip on a European trophy before. In the 1983/84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup campaign, Porto stopped the Scot's Aberdeen FC side at the semi-final stage, so ending his hopes of retaining the first piece of silverware he won in European football.

• United reached the last eight with a 2-0 aggregate success against Italian champions FC Internazionale Milano (0-0 away, 2-0 home). They had previously topped Group E with a record of W2 D4 L0 and are one of three sides still unbeaten in the competition alongside FC Bayern München and Liverpool FC.

• Porto advanced by defeating Club Atlético de Madrid on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw (2-2 away, 0-0 home). Prior to that they had finished top of Group G with a record of W4 D0 L2.

• This is United's 15th quarter-final tie in Europe's élite club competition and their record is: P14 W10 L4.

• Sir Alex's men beat AS Roma at this stage in both 2007 and 2008 and are now seeking a third consecutive semi-final appearance – a first for the English champions.

• Porto's quarter-final record is: P5 W3 L2.

• Porto went on to capture the European crown on the two previous occasions they came through a quarter-final – on their first appearance in the last eight, in 1987, and again on their most recent appearance in 2004.

• Porto have won two of the clubs' three previous two-legged contests. The Portuguese side beat United 6-5 on aggregate in the second round of the 1977/78 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, winning 4-0 at home before United mounted a brave, if ultimately futile, fightback with a 5-2 victory at Old Trafford.

• United came out on top when the sides met again in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, recording a 4-0 first-leg success before a goalless draw in Portugal. Ryan Giggs scored United's third goal at Old Trafford, and Gary Neville and Scholes also featured in the tie.

• Porto made it 2-1 in the series with their aforementioned upset of United in the 2003/04 first knockout round. Benni McCarthy's two goals in the first leg at the Estádio do Dragão overturned Quinton Fortune's opening strike for the visitors, before Costinha's late heroics in Manchester secured progress for José Mourinho's team.

• The teams for that 2004 encounter at Old Trafford were:
Man Utd: Tim Howard, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher (Cristiano Ronaldo 75 (Ole Gunnar Solskjær 83)), Eric Djemba-Djemba (Louis Saha 46), Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Porto: Vítor Baía, Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Costa (Pedro Emanuel 37), Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Dmitri Alenichev (Ricardo Fernandes 81), Costinha, Maniche, Deco, Carlos Alberto (Edgaras Jankauskas 61), Benni McCarthy.

• United's overall record against Portuguese opposition is: W13 D2 L4. Their home record is: W8 D1 L0.

• United's most recent encounter with a Portuguese side came in last season's group stage when they recorded home and away wins against Sporting Clube de Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal in both ties against his first club.

• United lifted the European Champion Clubs' Cup for the first time in 1968 after beating Portugal's SL Benfica 4-1 in the final at Wembley.

• Porto's overall record against English opposition is: W5 D7 L10. Their away record in England is: W0 D1 L10.

• Porto have conceded eight goals on their last two visits to England, going down 4-1 at Liverpool last season and 4-0 at Arsenal in the group stage of this campaign. Yet they did beat the Gunners 2-0 at home in December.

• United midfielder Anderson spent two seasons with Porto between 2005 and 2007. Signed from Grêmio FBPA, the Brazilian made three league appearances in his first campaign in Portugal but in the second featured 15 times, scoring twice and collecting a championship winner's medal.

• United pair Ronaldo and Nani will need no introduction to their Portuguese international team-mates in the Porto camp, Bruno Alves and Raul Meireles.

• AC Milan's semi-final success against United in May 2007 was the last time an English team lost to a foreign opponent in a UEFA Champions League knockout tie.

• The return leg will take place on Wednesday 15 April at the Estádio do Dragão.

• The victorious team from this tie will face either Villarreal CF or Arsenal in the semi-finals.