Olympiacos v Krasnodar facts

UEFA Champions League regulars Olympiacos are aiming to secure their 19th participation in the group stage as they take on a Krasnodar side competing in their first European Cup campaign.

• The teams are meeting for the first time, having each come through the third qualifying round.

Form guide
Olympiacos
• The Greek side last took part in the group stage in 2017/18, when they finished bottom of a section including Barcelona, Juventus and Sporting CP having collected only one point from their six fixtures.

• Olympiacos had beaten Croatian side Rijeka in that season's play-offs (2-1 h, 1-0 a) to make it two wins from two at that stage of the UEFA Champions League, having also knocked out Sheriff of Moldova in 2009/10 (2-0 a, 1-0 h). They have therefore won all four play-off matches in the competition.

• In 2018/19 Olympiacos went from the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round to the round of 32 thanks to a memorable matchday six defeat of AC Milan in Piraeus. They were unable to get past Dynamo Kyiv in the first knockout round, however, going out 3-2 on aggregate (2-2 h, 0-1 a).

• Second in the 2018/19 Greek Super League behind PAOK, Pedro Martins' side are unbeaten and yet to concede a goal in this season's UEFA Champions League, ousting Viktoria Plzeň in the second qualifying round (0-0 a, 4-0 h) and İstanbul Başakşehir in the third qualifying round (1-0 a, 2-0 h).

• This season's successes have made it eight home European games without defeat for Olympiacos (W6 D2), since a 2-0 loss against Juventus on matchday six of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League. They have never lost at home in ten UEFA Champions League qualifying encounters (W8 D2) and have won all five at the same stage of the UEFA Europa League.

• Olympiacos have won three of their four UEFA matches against Russian clubs, although the sole defeat did come on home soil in their first encounter – 0-2 against Dinamo Moskva in the 1971/72 European Cup Winners' Cup first round first leg.

Krasnodar
• This is only Krasnodar's sixth season in UEFA competition – they have featured every year since making their debut in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League. In 2018/19 they finished second in their UEFA Europa League group, then beat Bayer Leverkusen on away goals (0-0 h, 1-1 a) in the round of 32 before a dramatic late defeat against Valencia in the last 16 (1-2 a, 1-1 h).

• Third in the Russian Premier League in 2018/19, Krasnodar's first ever European Cup match ended in a 1-0 home defeat by Porto in the third qualifying round first leg, only for Murad Musayev's team to then turn round the tie with a remarkable 3-2 victory in Portugal in which they led 3-0 at half-time

• That was Krasnodar's ninth away win in UEFA competition in their 27th fixture (D7 L11), and their first in five games (D1 L3).

• Krasnodar have won three of their four UEFA Europa League play-off ties, although they did lose the most recent, on away goals against Crvena zvezda in 2017/18 (3-2 h, 1-2 a). They have yet to win the away leg of a European play-off tie (D2 L2), scoring just one goal.

• The Russian club's sole previous competitive game in Greece was a goalless draw at PAOK in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League group stage; they won the home match 2-1 with Ari scoring the first goal.

Links and trivia
• Olympiacos midfielder Mathieu Valbuena played in Russia for Dinamo Moskva from 2014 to 2015, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-0 away win at Krasnodar on 31 August 2014.

• Krasnodar's Marcus Berg was a Panathinaikos player between 2013 and 2017, scoring three goals in five league matches against Olympiacos. He scored one and set up another in a 3-0 Panathinaikos win in Piraeus in March 2014, their joint biggest away win in derby matches against Olympiacos since the professional league was inaugurated in 1979.

• Krasnodar's Rémy Cabella and Valbuena were France team-mates four times in 2014.