Debrecen trip takes Prandelli back to future

Debreceni VSC and ACF Fiorentina will meet for the first time when they face each other in Budapest on Matchday 3. For visiting coach Cesare Prandelli the Group E fixture may stir memories of his first ever European away trip, 30 years ago this month, when Hungary was also his destination.

• The teams will be in contrasting moods after two games, Fiorentina bouncing back from Matchday 1's reverse at Olympique Lyonnais with an impressive 2-0 dismantling of Liverpool FC. Debrecen, meanwhile, have won plaudits but no points after losing to Liverpool (0-1) and Lyon (0-4).

Match background
• In a season of firsts for the UEFA Champions League newcomers, this will be Debrecen's maiden test against Italian opposition.

• Fiorentina, for their part, have faced Hungarian teams twice before, both in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the 1960s.

• The Viola defeated Újpest FC 1-0 in Budapest in April 1962 through a Can Bartu goal, sealing a 3-0 aggregate success in that semi-final encounter. The holders failed to retain their trophy, however, losing to Club Atlético de Madrid in the final.

• Fiorentina lost on their second trip to Budapest to face Györi ETO FC in the first round of the same competition in 1966/67. Their 1-0 first-leg advantage crumbled as they succumbed 4-2 in the Hungarian capital.

• Prior to facing Lyon, András Herczeg's Debrecen team had won their three home qualifying games en route to the group stage. They beat Kalmar FF (2-0) and FC Levadia Tallinn (1-0) at their own ground in Debrecen before switching to Budapest's Ferenc Puskás Stadium for the 2-0 play-off victory over PFC Levski Sofia.

• Fiorentina's away form in Europe took a downturn with their 1-0 loss at Lyon on Matchday 1. The Serie A side had previously suffered just one reverse in eight games on the road.

Team ties
• Prandelli had his first taste of UEFA club competition against Hungarian opposition. As a 22-year-old with Juventus he made his European debut in a 2-0 home win against Györ in the 1979/80 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, appearing again in the 2-1 return loss in Hungary on 3 October 1979. It is the only occasion – until now – he has faced a Hungarian team.

• Debrecen midfielder Tibor Dombi appeared as a substitute for Hungary in a 2-2 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw with Italy in Budapest in September 2000. Defender László Bodnár played in the return fixture in Parma in October 2001, which Italy won 1-0.

• Bodnár has also played against Italian opposition in the UEFA Champions League before, featuring in the FC Dynamo Kyiv side defeated 2-1 at home by Juventus in the 2002/03 group stage. He was an unused substitute when Dynamo lost 5-0 at Juventus in that same campaign.

• In September 2001 Fiorentina forward Adrian Mutu helped Romania beat Hungary 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier at the Ferenc Puskás Stadium – then called the Népstadion – in Budapest.

• Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetić scored twice for Montenegro in a 3-3 friendly draw with Hungary at the Ferenc Puskás Stadium in Budapest on 20 August 2008. Debrecen's Zoltán Szélesi, László Bodnár and Gergely Rudolf all played for Hungary.