Olympiacos' vision is clear as Anderlecht visit

Olympiacos FC take on the side in bottom place in Group C, RSC Anderlecht, knowing that victory will assure them of a place in the knockout rounds for the first time since 2009/10.

• The Greek champions are level with SL Benfica on seven points but lead their Portuguese rivals on head-to-head record. Should Olympiacos win they will go through; otherwise matching the result Benfica manage at home to section winners Paris Saint-Germain would be enough. 

• Olympiacos striker Kostas Mitroglou scored a hat-trick when the sides met on matchday two, the first by a Greek player in the competition.

• That victory got Olympiacos' campaign up and running after an opening 4-1 home defeat against Paris; they beat Benfica 1-0 in their other home game.

• Anderlecht have lost four of their five Group C games, the exception a 1-1 draw in Paris on matchday four. They lost 2-0 at Benfica.

Previous meetings
• This will be the third meeting between the sides this season – they played a friendly in Piraeus on 7 August which Olympiacos won 1-0 thanks to a Dimitris Siovas goal.

• Prior to this season, the last time the fixture was played on the European stage was in autumn 1974 in the European Champion Clubs' Cup second round. Anderlecht were 5-1 home winners but had to withstand a second-leg scare in Patras as Maik Galakos scored a hat-trick for Olympiacos, whose 3-0 victory could not prevent their elimination.

• Olympiacos' only other experience of Belgian opponents came in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage, when they beat R. Standard de Liège 2-1 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium but went down 2-0 in the return.

• Anderlecht's defeat on matchday two brought an end to a seven-game unbeaten run in competitive fixtures against Greek sides, winning four and drawing three. Their other loss in a total of 13 games came in Athens in a 2002/03 UEFA Cup fourth round tie, 3-0 against Panathinaikos FC. Their overall record is W5 D5 L3 (W1 D3 L2 away).

• Anderlecht's last six meetings with Greek opponents before this season all came against AEK Athens FC, in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage and the 2010/11 and 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage. They recorded three victories and three draws.

Match background
• Olympiacos, in the group stage for the 15th time and their third in succession, reached the 1998/99 quarter-finals. They last reached the round of 16 in 2009/10.

• Last season they finished third in Group B. They lost 2-1 at home to FC Schalke 04 before winning their two other home games, against Montpellier Hérault SC (3-1) and Arsenal FC (2-1).

• Olympiacos have won eight of their last eleven home group games.

• In their tenth UEFA Champions League participation, Anderlecht have maintained their unwanted record of always finishing bottom of the group in the seven group stage campaigns since they reached the last 16 in 2000/01.

• In eight away games in the competition proper since a 1-0 success at Real Betis Balompié in their last match of the 2005/06 group stage, Anderlecht have had five draws and three defeats.

Team ties
• Míchel was in the starting lineup for both of Real Madrid CF's dramatic encounters against Anderlecht in the 1984/85 UEFA Cup second round. Madrid lost 3-0 in Brussels but won the return 6-1 to go through.

• Kostas Manolas played in three of AEK's UEFA Europa League games against Anderlecht and was sent off in Brussels on 15 September 2011, when the Belgian club won 4-1. Team-mates Olivier Deschacht and Silvio Proto played the full 360 minutes across the two seasons.

• Anthony Vanden Borre was on target when Anderlecht met AEK in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 6 December 2006, scoring the opener in a 2-2 draw.