København out to turn tables on Barcelona

Having had their perfect start to UEFA Champions League Group D ended at the Camp Nou on Matchday 3, FC København have the chance to regain first place in the section when FC Barcelona come to Denmark.

• København won their first two games, against Panathinaikos FC and FC Rubin Kazan, but the 2008/09 champions, who took four points from their opening fixtures, came out on top in Spain thanks to a goal in each half from Lionel Messi.

Previous meetings
• København have never beaten Spanish opponents in home European matches, losing two and drawing one of the three games. Only the 1-1 draw with Real Betis Balompié in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round offers them some respite from Spanish supremacy.

• Indeed, the Danish club are yet to win against Liga opposition in seven previous attempts; the defeat in Barcelona was their fourth loss.

• In contrast Barcelona have won all three previous games in Denmark and have yet to concede a goal. Their last visit, for a UEFA Cup third round game in February 2004, brought a 2-0 win at Brøndby IF.

• The Spanish side's Matchday 3 win was their sixth in seven matches against Danish clubs. The sole blemish in that record was a goalless draw at home to AGF Ârhus in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final. Furthermore, Barça have scored ten goals in those seven matches, conceding only one.

Match background
• København began their second UEFA Champions League campaign with a 1-0 home win against Rubin thanks to Dame N'Doye's header three minutes from time. The Danish champions then won 2-0 at Panathinaikos with N'Doye and Martin Vingaard on target.

• When they were last involved in the competition, in 2006/07, København collected all their points at home, drawing 0-0 with SL Benfica before beating Manchester United FC 1-0 and Celtic FC 3-1. They finished bottom of Group F with seven points.

• Barcelona opened their Group D challenge in impressive fashion as Lionel Messi inspired a 5-1 home victory against Panathinaikos on Matchday 1. Then, for the third game running against Rubin, they were unable to find a way past the Russian side, drawing 1-1 thanks to David Villa's penalty equaliser.

• The draw in Russia means that the Spanish champions have lost just one of their last 13 UEFA Champions League away games. They went 11 matches without defeat before going down 3-1 in last season's semi-final first leg against FC Internazionale Milano.

Team ties
• Spain faced Denmark twice in UEFA EURO 2008 qualification and Villa was on target in their 2-1 win in Madrid on 24 March 2007. Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Jesper Grønkjær also played in the fixture.

• Grønkjær made 16 appearances for Club Atlético de Madrid in 2005.