Porto aim to double the trouble for winless Club Brugge
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Article summary
Having triumphed in Belgium, Porto will look to maintain bottom-placed Club Brugge's misery in Group G when the teams complete their double-header on matchday four.
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Article body
FC Porto will look to maintain Club Brugge's misery in Group G when the teams complete their double-header on matchday four.
• Porto's 2-1 comeback victory at the Jan Breydelstadion on 18 October came via a 93rd-minute spot kick by André Silva and left Club Brugge four points adrift at the foot of the section.
Previous meetings
• Porto prevailed 5-3 on aggregate when the clubs met in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup second round.
• Porto won the first leg 3-0 at the Estádio das Antas thanks to goals by Abel Miglieti (6, 49) and Flávio Fonseca (48). Although Club Brugge managed three goals in the return – through Ruud Geels (3), John Thio (45) and Nico Rijnders (65) – Flávio (34) and Miglieti (88) scored again for the visitors from Portugal.
Match background
Porto
• Porto sit third in Group C, level on four points with second-placed FC København.
• Nuno Espírito Santo's side are on a four-match winless run at home in European competition following back-to-back losses to FC Dynamo Kyiv (0-2) and Borussia Dortmund (0-1) last term and 1-1 draws with AS Roma (in the play-offs) and FCK this season.
• Porto have never lost at home against Belgian opposition (W5 D2).
• Their last home fixture against a club from Belgium came against KRC Genk in a 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-off second-leg tie. They won 4-2 through a Hulk hat-trick and Fernando goal to secure a 7-3 aggregate success. Jelle Vossen got both goals for the visiting Genk side.
Club Brugge
• Michel Preud'homme's Belgian champions are still seeking their first point in Group G. It is the first time they have started a UEFA group campaign with three straight losses.
• Brugge are on a seven-match winless run on their travels in Europe. Their last victory was a 3-1 success at Beşiktaş JK in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League round of 16.
• Their record from four previous visits to Portugal reads W1 L3. That solitary success came at SC Braga in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage, Ryan Donk securing a 2-1 win with a 91st-minute goal. Lior Refaelov was in the Brugge team.
• Brugge's most recent trip to Portugal brought a 2-1 defeat at CS Marítimo in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League group stage, Refaelov scoring the visitors' goal.
Coach and player links
• As R. Standard de Liège goalkeeper, Preud'homme got the better of Porto in the 1981/82 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (2-0 h, 2-2 a).
• Preud'homme played in Portugal for SL Benfica from 1994 to 1999, winning the Portuguese Cup in 1996. He had a subsequent spell as technical director of the Lisbon club (1999–2000).
• As a Benfica player, he never won an away game against Porto (P6 W0 D1 L5).
• Preud'homme was in the Belgium side who got the better of Portugal in 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying (1-1 a, 3-0 h). Playing for KV Mechelen, meanwhile, he lost 3-2 (aggregate) to Sporting Clube de Portugal in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup first round.
• Nuno had mixed fortunes against Belgian opposition last season when facing KAA Gent in the UEFA Champions League with Valencia CF, winning 2-1 at home but losing 1-0 away.
• Laurent Depoitre lost three times at the Jan Breydelstadion with Gent last term. Overall he faced Club Brugge in seven matches in 2015/16 (W3 L4), scoring three times, including the only goal of the Belgian Super Cup on 16 July 2015.
Match facts
Porto
• A 0-0 draw at Vitória FC on Saturday ended Porto's run of four straight wins in all competitions; they have kept a clean sheet in four of those five games.
• André Silva has scored ten goals in his past nine appearances for club and country.
• Yacine Brahimi found the net for the first time this season in the 3-0 home victory over FC Arouca on 22 October.
Club Brugge
• Brugge defeated RSC Anderlecht 2-1 at home on 23 October thanks to goals from Hans Vanaken and Ruud Vormer, both set up by Anthony Limbombe.
• Wesley was dismissed six minutes after coming off the bench against Anderlecht.
• Three days later, two goals from defender Dion Cools helped Brugge record their biggest victory of the season, 4-0 against KVC Westerlo.
• Tomás Pina scored the third, his first goal for Brugge since joining from Villarreal CF in the summer.
• On Saturday, Club Brugge drew 0-0 at SV Zulte Waregem – only their second draw this season in all competitions and their first goalless game since a stalemate at R. Charleroi SC on 9 August 2015.
• Björn Engels is expected to sit out the rest of the group stage after suffering a shoulder injury against Leicester on matchday one.
• Refaelov is likely to be sidelined until November. He underwent surgery on his pubis on 22 August.
• José Izquierdo (groin) and Laurens De Bock (knee) suffered injuries in training on 1 October and were ruled out for four weeks.