Zenit eye another Belgian scalp as Gent visit

Group H rivals FC Zenit and KAA Gent meet for the first time when the Belgian champions visit St Petersburg on matchday two.

• Zenit will be looking to maintain an impressive home record against Belgian teams and have in their ranks a man who knows plenty about the visitors, Nicolas Lombaerts having begun his career with Gent.

Match background

Zenit
• Zenit made an impressive start in Group H by beating Valencia CF 3-2 to record their first-ever victory on Spanish soil.

• Zenit have won all five previous home games against Belgian opposition with a combined score of 12-1. Their most recent victory was 3-0 against R. Standard de Liège in the 2014/15 play-off round when goals from José Rondón and Hulk (2) completed a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

• When Zenit previously faced a Belgian team in the UEFA Champions League group stage – RSC Anderlecht in 2012/13 – they prevailed 1-0 at home through an Aleksandr Kerzhakov penalty and lost 1-0 away.

• Zenit had a record of five wins and just one defeat in their eight European home fixtures last season.

Gent
• Nine-man Gent took a point from their debut fixture in the UEFA Champions League on matchday one, holding Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 thanks to Matz Sels's late penalty save from Alexandre Lacazette. 

• Gent are facing Russian opposition for the second time, 24 years after a 2-0 aggregate victory over FC Dinamo Moskva in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup third round.

• In that tie with Dinamo, they won 2-0 at home before travelling to Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, for the second leg which finished goalless.

• Gent lost all three of their away trips in their only previous experience of a UEFA competition group stage – the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League.

Coach and player links
• André Villas-Boas's first European fixture as a head coach was with Porto against Belgian side KRC Genk in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-offs. Porto won the first leg 3-0 in Belgium before Hulk scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 home success.

• Villas-Boas faced Genk again as Chelsea FC manager in the following season's UEFA Champions League group stage, posting a 5-0 home win and 1-1 away draw.

• During his time as Genk coach Heinz Vanhaezebrouck suffered a 2-0 Belgian Super Cup defeat by Standard, in August 2009, in which Axel Witsel scored the second goal.

• Witsel scored twice against Gent as a Standard player, both times in away wins – 1-0 in May 2009 and 3-1 in April 2011.

• Lombaerts played for Gent between 2004 and 2007, making 76 league appearances and scoring once.

• Player who have played together:
Lombaerts & Brian Vandenbussche (Belgium 2006–07)

Match facts

Zenit
• Zenit have picked up just one point from their last three home league matches, losing to FC Krasnodar (2-0, 15 August) and PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara (3-1, 29 August). They suffered only one Premier-Liga defeat at Stadion Petrovski last season and three in the championship overall.

• Villas-Boas was given a six-game domestic touchline ban after being sent to the stands during the Krylya Sovetov Samara fixture.

• The Portuguese announced on 10 September that he will leave Zenit at the end of the season.

• Denis Tkachuk, not in Zenit's UEFA Champions League squad, scored an extra-time hat-trick as the Blue-White-Sky Blues triumphed 3-0 at third-tier FC Volga Tver in the Russian Cup round of 32 on 23 September. Dmitri Bogaev made his senior Zenit debut.

• Oleg Shatov (muscular injury) had missed last two matches before returning for Saturday's 2-2 draw at Spartak Moskva.

Gent
• Thomas Foket and Brecht Dejaegere are banned following their red cards on matchday one.

• Gent are 12 games unbeaten in all competitions this term. They have drawn six of them.

• Gent recorded their biggest win since 7 February when they defeated nine-man R. Standard de Liège 4-1 on 20 September. Substitute Thomas Matton scored twice, his first goals for the Buffalos.

• Vanhaezebrouck's men beat second-tier KAS Eupen 3-0 at home in the Belgian Cup round of 32 on 23 September.

• Sels exteded his contract until the summer of 2019 on 21 September.

• Uroš Vitas, who has not played this season because of ankle and hamstring injuries, was an unused substitute against Lyon and Standard, and for Saturday's 3-1 win at Waasland-Beveren.

• Erik Johansson suffered a knee ligament injury while training with Sweden in early September and is expected to be out for four to six weeks.