Panathinaikos look to better FCK again

Panathinaikos FC have a recent victory against FC København to boost their confidence as they prepare to receive the Danish champions in their first home game in Group D.

• The Greek titleholders are in need of a lift having gone down 5-1 at FC Barcelona on Matchday 1 – despite taking the lead – while København are aiming to build on a 1-0 opening win against FC Rubin Kazan.

Previous meetings
• The teams met three years ago in Copenhagen in the home team's only previous European fixture against Greek opposition. The 2007/08 UEFA Cup group match ended 1-0 to the visitors thanks to an early goal from Dame N'Doye, who now plays for the Danish side. FCK substitute Hjalte Nørregaard missed a penalty.

• The lineups for that 25 October 2007 encounter were:
København: Christiansen, Jensen, Hangeland, Antonsson, Würtz (Nørregaard 56), Grønkjær, Hutchinson, Kvist, Sionko (Silberbauer 56), Nordstrand, Allbäck.
Panathinaikos: Galinović, Enakarhire, Goumas, Fyssas, Vintra, Marcelo, Karagounis (Šerić 87), Tziolis, Ivanschitz (Dimoutsos 67), Papadopoulos (Salpigidis 76), N'Doye.

• Panathinaikos met Aalborg BK in the group stage of the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League, winning 2-0 at home and losing 2-1 in Denmark.

Match background
• Panathinaikos, who are back in the group stage after missing out in 2009/10, began with two defeats in their last campaign and then drew 2-2 at home to SV Werder Bremen. However they then recorded three successive victories, finishing with a 1-0 home win against Anorthosis Famagusta FC, to come top of the group ahead of FC Internazionale Milano and qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time in seven years.

• Their run came to an end in the round of 16 when they could not capitalise on a 1-1 draw at Villarreal CF, losing 2-1 at home.

• In last season's UEFA Europa League, the Greens' group record at home showed two wins and a defeat. In the round of 32 they beat AS Roma 3-2 home and away while in the last 16 they lost 3-1 at home to R. Standard de Liège and went down 1-0 in the return.

• The Danish champions were previously involved in the UEFA Champions League in 2006/07, when they finished bottom of Group F with seven points. They lost all three away games: 1-0 at Celtic FC, 3-0 at Manchester United FC and 3-1 at SL Benfica.

• FCK reached this stage with an away-goals triumph in the play-offs against Rosenborg BK, following a 2-1 away defeat with a 1-0 win at the Parken Stadion. In the third qualifying round FC BATE Borisov were defeated 3-2 in the Danish capital after the first leg had ended goalless.

• In last season's UEFA Europa League, they lost their first two away games but finished with a 3-0 win at AC Sparta Praha which ensured a second-place finish in the group. In the round of 32 they lost 3-1 at home and away to Olympique de Marseille.

Team ties
• Mikael Antonsson signed for Panathinaikos in January 2006, moving to FCK in summer 2007 after making only seven league appearances.

• N'Doye joined the Greek side in the summer of 2007 and stayed in Athens until 2008, when he went on loan to OFI Crete FC. In January 2009 he signed for FCK.

• When København met Benfica in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round in August 2007, Kostas Katsouranis scored the only goal of the second leg to seal the Portuguese side's 3-1 aggregate triumph.

• Hans Backe guided FCK to three Superligaen titles between 2001 and 2005 before a short spell in charge of Panathinaikos. Disappointing UEFA Cup results led to his dismissal after just three months.