Dinamo determined to stop the rot against PSG

GNK Dinamo Zagreb are looking to put a losing UEFA Champions League run behind them when Paris Saint-Germain FC visit Croatia on matchday three.

• Defeats at home to FC Porto and at FC Dynamo Kyiv, both 2-0, extended Dinamo's losing group stage streak to eight matches. PSG, meanwhile, need a revival of their own after losing 1-0 in Porto last time out having opened Group A with a 4-1 home victory over Dynamo.

Match background
• The teams have never met before. Indeed, this is the first time PSG have faced opponents from Croatia.

• Dinamo's last taste of Ligue 1 opposition was a 7-1 home defeat by Olympique Lyonnais on 7 December 2011, their biggest loss in UEFA competition and a third successive home reverse against a French team.

• Dinamo have lost four of their six home games against Ligue 1 opposition with victory in the other two matches. They have not beaten a French side in eight attempts, home or away, since overcoming AJ Auxerre 3-1 in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round first leg in Zagreb; even then they lost the return 3-0.

• Champions of Croatia for the seventh year in succession in 2011/12, when they completed the domestic double, Dinamo are taking part in the group stage for the second season running and the fourth time in all.

• As in 2011, Dinamo came through three qualifying rounds, overcoming PFC Ludogorets Razgrad 4-3 on aggregate before seeing off FC Sheriff 4-0 overall in the third qualifying round. Tonel's first-half goal at NK Maribor confirmed Dinamo's progress in the play-offs after they had won 2-1 in Zagreb.

• Dinamo lost all six group games last season, going down 1-0 at home to Real Madrid CF and 2-0 against AFC Ajax before that 7-1 Lyon loss. They conceded 22 goals, a UEFA Champions League group stage record.

• Runners-up in Ligue 1 last season, PSG are in the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time. In their last campaign, 2004/05, they drew 0-0 at Porto and Chelsea FC, losing 2-0 at PFC CSKA Moskva and finishing fourth in the group.

• PSG also failed to score an away goal in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, going down 2-0 at Athletic Club and FC Salzburg, and drawing 0-0 at ŠK Slovan Bratislava. They ended third in Group F.

Team ties
• Zlatan Ibrahimović's mother was born in Croatia and the striker returned to her home country, and Dinamo's Stadion Maksimir, for Sweden's 3-1 friendly victory on 2 February. He scored a penalty and created another goal.

• Thiago Motta played for Italy in a 1-1 UEFA EURO 2012 draw against Croatia in Poznan on 14 June. Josip Šimunić, Domagoj Vida, Šime Vrsaljko and Ivan Kelava were all on the bench for Croatia, as was Salvatore Sirigu for Italy.

• Šimunić and Vida played for Croatia in a goalless friendly draw against France in Paris on 29 March 2011. Blaise Matuidi and Jérémy Ménez started for the home side and Kevin Gameiro came on as a substitute.

• Šimunić also played against France at UEFA EURO 2004, Croatia's group match in Leiria ending 2-2.

FARE Action Week
• Matchday three of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League will contribute to the fight against all forms of discrimination in football stadiums as UEFA gives its full support to Europe's biggest anti-discrimination campaign – the FARE Action Week. Forty matches across the competitions on 23, 24 and 25 October will restate UEFA's commitment to ensuring that European football is free of racism, intolerance and xenophobia.