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Valencia train sights on second place

Third-placed Valencia CF trail Bayer 04 Leverkusen by just a single point in Group E and are hoping they can overtake them on matchday five when KRC Genk come to Mestalla.

Valencia are right back in Group E contention after their matchday three victory
Valencia are right back in Group E contention after their matchday three victory ©Getty Images

Valencia CF's defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen last time out – their first victory in seven UEFA Champions League outings – cut their Group E deficit behind the German side to just a single point and they will be hoping to overtake them on matchday five when KRC Genk come to Mestalla.

• The game in Belgium on 13 September – the teams' first competitive meeting – finished 0-0.

• Valencia then drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea FC but a 2-1 matchday three defeat at Leverkusen left their hopes hanging by a thread. Jonas scored the second fastest UEFA Champions League goal to set Valencia on the way to a vital 3-1 win against the Bundesliga club last time out, however, bringing them right back into contention.

• On matchday two Genk went down 2-0 at Leverkusen and were then handed a sobering UEFA Champions League lesson as they lost 5-0 at Chelsea. Some pride was restored back in Belgium with a 1-1 draw against the London team, Jelle Vossen wiping out the visitors' early goal and László Köteles pulling off a superb save from David Luiz's spot kick.

Previous meetings
• Valencia lost their first home game against opponents from Belgium in a competitive fixture, going down 2-1 in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg against RSC Anderlecht and 5-2 overall. However their other four encounters have resulted in three wins and a draw.

• Genk have yet to win in a total of five matches against Spanish opponents but four of those encounters ended all square. The exception was the away game with Real Madrid CF in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League group stage which they lost 6-0.

Match background
• Genk, who failed to win a game during their only previous UEFA Champions League participation in 2002/03, have this and the home game with Leverkusen on 6 December to try and open their account in the group stage.

Team ties
• Jeroen Simaeys was in the Club Brugge KV team that drew 1-1 away to Valencia in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Anthony Vanden Borre's RSC Anderlecht lost 2-0 in Valencia in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 14 September 2004.

• Vanden Borre was also part of the Belgium team that lost both FIFA World Cup qualifiers to Spain in October 2008 (1-2) and September 2009 (0-5) as well as the 2-0 World Cup qualifying reverse in October 2005, which also featured Thomas Buffel and David Albelda. Albelda was also involved in the 2-0 home win for Spain against Buffel's Belgium a year earlier.

• Elyaniv Barda was a member of the Maccabi Haifa FC side which lost 4-0 at home to Valencia in the second round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup, a competition the Spanish side went on to win.

• Pablo Hernández struck two extra-time goals against Club Brugge to send Valencia into the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 16. Éver Banega, Albelda, Miguel, Ángel Dealbert and Hedwiges Maduro were also involved in Valencia's 3-0 second-leg win at Mestalla.

• Adil Rami played in the first leg of LOSC Lille Métropole's 2-1 UEFA Europa League play-off triumph at Genk in August 2009, part of a 6-3 aggregate success.

• Mehmet Topal came on as a substitute in Turkey's 1-1 UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw away to Belgium on 3 June. The midfielder also featured in a World Cup qualifier against the Red Devils that finished 1-1 in September 2008.

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