Olympiacos seek reversal of fortune against United

Olympiacos FC are hoping to dent Manchester United FC's proud record against Greek opposition when the sides meet in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis.

• There will be a partial closure of the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis – the lower tier of the north stand – for the match as Olympiacos are punished for the racist conduct of supporters, insufficient organisation, the setting-off of fireworks and the use of a laser during the Group C game against RSC Anderlecht on 10 December 2013. UEFA has a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and discrimination on the pitch and in the stands.

• The English title holders have never lost to opponents from Greece, but Olympiacos's determined efforts to reach this stage culminated on matchday six with a 3-1 home win over RSC Anderlecht that secured second place in Group C ahead of SL Benfica on the head-to-head rule. Unbeaten United's progress was more serene as they booked their place with a game to spare as Group A winners.

Previous meetings
• United have won all four of the clubs' past encounters, starting with a 2-0 victory in Piraeus in the 2001/02 first group stage when David Beckham and Andrew Cole scored the goals. Sir Alex Ferguson's team then won 3-0 in Manchester with Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy finding the net inside the final 15 minutes. Roy Carroll, now at Olympiacos but not in their UEFA Champions League squad, was on United's bench for both games.

• Giggs has featured all four times United have met Olympiacos and the Welshman was on the scoresheet again when the clubs reconvened at Old Trafford in a 4-0 United victory in the 2002/03 first group stage. Giggs struck twice with Solskjær and Juan Sebastián Verón also on target for a United side that included Rio Ferdinand.

• Olympiacos finally scored against United in the return fixture on 23 October 2002. Trailing to goals from Laurent Blanc and Verón, Giannis Kollias's hosts drew level through Lampros Choutos and Predrag Djordjević only to succumb to an 84th-minute Paul Scholes winner.

• The lineups were:
Olympiacos: Eleftheropoulos, Anatolakis, Antzas, Venetidis, Patsatzoglou, Giannakopoulos (Mavrogenidis 87), Zetterberg (Ofori-Quaye 71), Karembeu, Djordjević, Giovanni (Choutos 46), Dracena.
Manchester United: Barthez, G Neville, Blanc, O'Shea, Silvestre, Beckham (Fortune 63), P Neville, Verón (Richardson 87), Giggs (Chadwick 63), Scholes, Forlán.

Match background
• Olympiacos are seeking a first UEFA Champions League quarter-final appearance since 1999. This is their first time in the knockout stage since 2009/10, when they lost home and away to FC Girondins de Bordeaux. United lost at this stage last season, succumbing 3-2 on aggregate to Real Madrid CF, and last reached the quarter-finals in 2010/11, when they went on to the final.

• Olympiacos are looking for a third straight home success in the competition after victories over Benfica and Anderlecht.

• United are undefeated on their European travels this term, having drawn at FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad de Fútbol and beaten Bayer 04 Leverkusen 5-0 – their first five-goal victory in the competition since 1965.

• Olympiacos have lost all five of their previous two-legged knockout ties against English clubs in UEFA competition. However, they have won their last three home fixtures against Premier League opposition – all against Arsenal. They triumphed 2-1 in last season's group stage, Giannis Maniatis and Kostas Mitroglou securing a 2-1 comeback win, and 3-1 in the 2011/12 group stage, David Fuster scoring their second goal. They prevailed 1-0 in the 2009/10 group stage.

• Olympiacos's overall home record against English clubs is W5 D3 L3.

• United first visited Greece at the beginning of their 1991/92 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, for a 0-0 draw at Athinaikos FC. They have not lost on five previous visits to the country and remain unbeaten home and away against Greek opposition, with an overall record of W8 D2 L0.

Team ties
• Míchel's only previous meeting with English opposition came in 1984/85 when he was in the Real Madrid CF side that beat Tottenham Hotspur FC 1-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. With Spain he played in two home friendlies against England – a 4-2 loss in February 1987 and a 1-0 victory in September 1992.

• As Everton FC manager, David Moyes oversaw a 3-1 home victory against Larissa FC in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage and home and away wins over AEK Athens FC in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage – 4-0 in Liverpool and 1-0 in Athens.

• Shinji Kagawa's Borussia Dortmund lost 3-1 at Olympiacos then won 1-0 at home in the 2011/12 group stage.

• Robin van Persie scored Arsenal's first goal in a 2-0 home victory over an Olympiacos side including Avraam Papadopoulos and substitute Mitroglou in the 2009/10 group stage. He also featured in Arsenal's 2-1 home success over the Greek champions in the 2011/12 group stage.

• Goalkeepers Roberto and David de Gea were colleagues at Club Atlético de Madrid in 2009/10 – indeed it was an injury to Roberto that gave De Gea the opportunity to make his Atlético debut, the then 18-year-old coming on as a 26th-minute replacement for Roberto in a 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat at FC Porto in September 2009.

• Javier Saviola and Patrice Evra were team-mates at AS Monaco FC in  2004/05. They featured in a 2-1 home win over Olympiacos – Saviola scoring the first goal – while Evra also appeared in the 1-0 defeat in the Piraeus return.