First finalists come face to face

Olympique de Marseille and AC Milan, the teams who contested the first UEFA Champions League final in 1993, will renew acquaintance in a competitive fixture for the first time since then in Group C on Matchday 1.

Previous meetings
• Marseille became the first French team to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup when Basile Boli's 43rd-minute goal earned victory over Milan in Munich's Olympiastadion on 26 May 1993.

• Their only other meeting came two seasons earlier in the quarter-finals and Marseille again had the better of things. After a 1-1 draw in Italy, Chris Waddle fired the only goal in the return.

• The Ligue 1 runners-up have won three and drawn one of their last four fixtures against Italian sides but before that they had lost four and drawn two of six games, a sequence that included the 1999 UEFA Cup final when they lost 3-0 to Parma FC.

• Milan, returning to the competition after missing out last year and with Leonardo replacing Carlo Ancelotti as coach, have drawn three and lost two of their last five visits to France, scoring just two goals.

Match background
• Marseille lost their Matchday 1 fixture 12 months ago, going down 2-1 at home to Liverpool, and eventually bowed out after the group stage. In their other home games they beat PSV Eindhoven 3-0 and drew 0-0 with Club Atlético de Madrid.

• In each of their last three group-stage campaigns Marseille have only been victorious in one of their three home games, losing four of those nine matches.

• In only one of their last four UEFA Champions League campaigns have Marseille advanced beyond the initial group stage, in 1999/00.

• Milan have won their last seven Matchday 1 fixtures and drew the one before that. Their last Matchday 1 defeat came on 11 September 1996 when they lost 3-2 at home to FC Porto.

• Milan have won only three of their last ten UEFA Champions League away fixtures, not including the 2007 final when they beat Liverpool 2-1 in Athens. They have lost three and drawn four.

• In 2007/08 Milan were knocked out of the competition by Arsenal FC in the first knockout round, their worst performance in six campaigns in which they had twice lifted the trophy and also finished runners-up.

Team ties
• Didier Deschamps captained France to victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup final against a Brazil side with Leonardo in midfield.

• Jean-Pierre Papin was a member of the Milan side beaten by OM in 1993, less than a year after ending a six-year spell with the French club.

• Mathieu Flamini was born in Marseille and played 14 league games for his hometown club before joining Arsenal.

• Flavio Roma (AS Monaco FC, 2001-2009) and Ronaldinho (Paris Saint-Germain FC, 2001-2003) have also played in France.

• Gabriel Heinze was in the Manchester United FC team that lost both legs of their 2004/05 first knockout round tie against Milan 1-0. He also played in both legs of the 2006/07 semi-final with United winning the home leg 3-2 but then going down 3-0 in Milan.

• Fernando Morientes was on loan at Liverpool when they beat Milan in the 2005 final but was ineligible.

• Heinze and Klaas Jan Huntelaar were team-mates at Madrid last season.