Anderlecht seeking a minor miracle

RSC Anderlecht have to produce one of the greatest comebacks in European club competition history if they are to deny Olympique Lyonnais a tenth successive appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• The Brussels outfit go into the return leg of their play-off against Lyon trailing 5-1 from the sides' first-leg encounter in France. Miralem Pjanić, Lisandro (pen), Michel Bastos, Bafétimbi Gomis (2) all found the net for the Ligue 1 side against opponents for whom Matías Suárez's strike offered scant consolation.

Previous meetings

• The Belgian side have never lost at home to French opposition, recording four wins and three draws in seven previous meetings with visitors from across the border.

• One of those Anderlecht victories was a 1-0 win over Lyon in the clubs' only previous encounter in Brussels in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage. Hannu Tihinen got the 71st-minute goal that avenged an identical loss at the Stade de Gerland.

• Daniel Zítka and Olivier Deschacht featured in both of those fixtures for Anderlecht, while Sidney Govou and Anthony Réveillère did likewise for Lyon. Anderlecht assistant coach Besnik Hasi also played for the Belgian outfit.

• The full lineups for the clubs' meeting at the Constant van den Stock Stadium on 25 November 2003 were:
Anderlecht: Daniel Zítka, Olivier Deschacht, Vincent Kompany, Hannu Tihinen, Michał Żewłakow (Marc Hendrickx 68), Martin Kolář (Oleg Iachtchouk 89), Walter Baseggio, Besnik Hasi, Pär Zetterberg (Yves Vanderhaeghe 87), Christian Wilhelmsson, Ivica Mornar.
Lyon: Nicolas Puydebois, Anthony Réveillère, Patrick Müller, Edmílson, Jérémy Berthod (Claudio Caçapa 81), Florent Malouda, Mahamadou Diarra (Eric Carrière 74), Juninho Pernambucano, Péguy Luyindula, Sidney Govou, Giovane Elber.

• Lyon's record in Belgium is one win and three defeats from four previous visits.

Match background

• Anderlecht have recovered a two-goal deficit on three occasions in Europe but to gain entry into the group stage for the first time since 2006/07 – and ninth overall – they must mount a fightback on double the scale.

• Only three times before has a team battled back from such a heavy first-leg loss:

1961/62 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round
Leixões SC v FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 2-6, 5-0

1984/85 UEFA Cup second round
FK Partizan v Queens Park Rangers FC 2-6, 4-0

1985/86 UEFA Cup third round
Real Madrid CF v VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-5, 4-0

• Losers in the qualifying phase in each of the last two seasons, Ariël Jacobs' Anderlecht could do with a repeat of their 5-0 home victory over Turkish side Sivasspor in the third qualifying round – a result that set up a 6-3 aggregate success.

Team ties

• Lyon players Jean II Makoun, Mathieu Bodmer and Michel Bastos were in the LOSC Lille Métropole team coached by present Les Gones boss Claude Puel that took on Anderlecht in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage, drawing 1-1 in Brussels and 2-2 in France.

• Anderlecht defender Jelle Van Damme appeared for Belgium in a friendly against France in Brussels on 18 February 2004, with Jean-Alain Boumsong and Govou both featuring for the visitors, who won 2-0.