Top spot at stake for growing rivals

With FC Porto and Chelsea FC having booked their places in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round with two games to spare, the race is on for first place in Group D. The home team will also be intent on revenge for their 1-0 away defeat on Matchday 1, and for their elimination at the hands of the English side three years ago.

• Falcao steered the Portuguese champions into the last 16 with the only goal at APOEL FC on 3 November. It left Porto on nine points, one point and one place behind the London club for whom the returning Didier Drogba scored twice in Spain against Club Atlético de Madrid. Sergio Agüero's matching pair of goals were the first Carlo Ancelotti's team had conceded in the campaign.

Previous meetings
• Drogba had been banned for the first three Group D fixtures, the first of which was against Porto at Stamford Bridge. Nicolas Anelka scored the only goal of an entertaining game early in the second half with Porto losing Fernando to a second yellow card in added time.

• This is the third recent UEFA Champions League campaign in which the teams have met. In the 2006/07 first knockout round Porto staged the opening leg but could do no better than a 1-1 draw. Ricardo Quaresma fired Porto ahead in the return but Chelsea fought back to win 2-1 with Michael Ballack scoring the winner.

• The teams for the 21 February 2007 game at Estádio do Dragão were:
Porto: Helton, Bosingwa, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fucile (Bruno Moraes 65), Lucho, Paulo Assunção, Raul Meireles (Marek Čech 56), Lisandro, Hélder Postiga (Adriano 77), Quaresma.
Chelsea: Petr Čech, Diarra, Terry (Robben 13, Mikel Obi 46), Carvalho, Bridge, Makelele, Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Shevchenko (Kalou 88), Drogba.

• The teams for the 6 March 2007 return were:
Chelsea: Petr Čech, Diarra (Ferreira 66), Essien, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Makelele (Mikel Obi 46), Robben, Ballack, Lampard, Shevchenko (Kalou 84), Drogba.
Porto: Helton, Marek Čech (Adriano 56), Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fucile, Lucho, Ricardo Costa, Paulo Assunção, Raul Meireles (Ibson 56), Quaresma, Lisandro (Bruno Moraes 82).

• The teams also met in the 2004/05 group stage, José Mourinho's first season with Chelsea having left Porto after guiding them to their 2004 UEFA Champions League triumph. Chelsea won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, with Drogba and John Terry on the scoresheet, but Porto got their revenge in the reverse, winning 2-1.

Match background
• It is the sixth time in seven consecutive group-stage campaigns that Porto have reached the knockout rounds. Only in 2005/06 did they fail to progress.

• For Chelsea the statistics are even better: they have a 100 per cent qualification record in the last seven campaigns, including this one. Only in 2005/06 did they fail to reach the semi-finals. In four of the last six editions the London club finished top of their group.

• The game in Madrid on Matchday 4 extended Chelsea's recent run of draws on their travels in the UEFA Champions League. Since a 2-1 defeat by Fenerbahçe SK in the 2007/08 quarter-final first leg, Chelsea have played ten away games, including their defeat on penalties in the 2008 final in Moscow against Manchester United FC, and drawn seven with two wins and one defeat.

Team ties
• Five Chelsea players have previously turned out for Porto: Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira (both joined in summer 2004), Henrique Hilário (July 2006), José Bosingwa and Deco (summer 2008).

• During the summer Porto signed Álvaro Pereira, part of the CFR 1907 Cluj defence which earned a 0-0 home draw against Chelsea in last season's UEFA Champions League.

• Fernando Belluschi faced Chelsea in the last 16 of the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League. The Argentinian was used as a substitute in both matches as Olympiacos FC bowed out after drawing 0-0 at home and losing 3-0 in London.

• Cristián Rodríguez played alongside Salomon Kalou's brother, Bonaventure, at Paris Saint-Germain FC between 2005 and 2007.

• Cristian Săpunaru was an unused substitute as Romania drew 0-0 against France in the UEFA EURO 2008™ group stage. Florent Malouda and Anelka started the match in Zurich. Săpunaru was again on the bench as his country secured a 1-1 draw in Paris in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 5 September 2009. Anelka was on the opposing side.