Lokomotiv Moskva v Leverkusen facts

Lokomotiv Moskva and Bayer Leverkusen are both battling to stay in Group D contention as they meet in Russia in the penultimate round of matches.

• The Russian club were 2-1 winners in Germany on Matchday 1 in the first UEFA encounter between the teams – thanks to first-half goals from Grzegorz Krychowiak and Dmitri Barinov either side of a Benedikt Höwedes own goal – but have not picked up a point since. Leverkusen joined their Russian opponents on three points with a 2-1 defeat of Atlético Madrid last time out, having lost their first three games.

• With already-qualified Juventus top of the section on ten points, three ahead of Atlético, Lokomotiv will be unable to finish in the top two if they lose to Leverkusen, or if they draw and Atlético avoid defeat against Juventus. Lokomotiv will be confirmed in third place if they and Atlético both win.

• Leverkusen will be unable to finish in the top two if they fail to beat Lokomotiv and will be confirmed in fourth place with defeat.

Form guide
Lokomotiv
• The 2-1 win at Leverkusen on Matchday 1 was Lokomotiv's first away victory in the UEFA Champions League since a 2-1 win at Galatasaray in the 2002/03 first group stage. Their record between those two victories, qualifying included, was D4 L9.

• The Russian club were beaten 2-0 at home by Atlético in their second fixture before losing 2-1 both away and at home to Juventus, scoring first in Turin and conceding an added-time winner in Moscow.

• Second in the Russian Premier League last season, when they won the Russian Cup for the third time in five years, Lokomotiv are in the group stage for the fifth time overall and the second in successive seasons. Their 2018/19 appearance was their first since 2003/04.

• Last season Loko finished bottom of a section involving Porto, Schalke and Galatasaray, losing five games and picking up their only points with a 2-0 home defeat of the Turkish club on Matchday 5.

• Loko lost at home to Schalke (0-1) and Porto (1-3) before beating Galatasaray in last season's group stage. However, they have still won four of their last eight home matches in the UEFA Champions League proper.

• Lokomotiv have won only five of their last 15 European fixtures in Moscow, losing eight including five of the last six.

• Lokomotiv's last visit from a German club was that defeat by Schalke last season; they have lost all four home matches against Bundesliga teams, scoring only one goal while conceding nine.

• The win at Leverkusen on Matchday 1 ended Loko's run of seven successive defeats against German clubs, home and away.

Leverkusen
• This is Leverkusen's 100th match in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final. They are the 22nd club to reach that landmark.

• Having lost at home to Lokomotiv, Leverkusen went down 3-0 at Juventus and 1-0 at Atlético, before beating the Spanish side at the BayArena last time out – just their third win in their last 17 UEFA Champions League matches (D8 L6).

• Fourth in last season's Bundesliga, 2002 runners-up Leverkusen are in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 12th time, and the first since 2016/17. They have reached the last 16 or better in seven of their last eight campaigns, most recently getting to the 2016/17 round of 16 where they lost to Atlético (2-4 h, 0-0 a).

• Absent from Europe in 2017/18, for the first time in eight years, last season Leverkusen finished first in their UEFA Europa League section ahead of Zürich, AEK Larnaca and Ludogorets, but lost on away goals to Russian side Krasnodar in the round of 32 (0-0 a, 1-1 h).

• Despite the defeats in Turin and Madrid, Die Werkself have lost only four of their last 13 European away games (W4 D5), and racked up ten goals on the road in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• The loss at Juventus ended Leverkusen's five-match unbeaten run in away UEFA Champions League games (W1 D4), since a 3-2 group stage loss at Roma in November 2015.

• Leverkusen had drawn four games in succession against Russian clubs before losing to Loko this season; they lost their first two games in Russia, both in Moscow, but are unbeaten in the last four (W2 D2).

Links and trivia
• Have played in Germany:
Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke 2007–17)
Jefferson Farfán (Schalke 2008–15)
Vedran Ćorluka (Bayer Leverkusen 2012)

• International team-mates:
Benedikt Höwedes & Jonathan Tah, Sven Bender, Lars Bender, Karim Bellarabi, Kevin Volland (Germany)
Murilo Cerqueira & Paulinho (Brazil U23)

• Leverkusen's Joel Pohjanpalo and Lokomotiv's Boris Rotenberg both came through the ranks at HJK Helsinki and are both internationals for Finland, as is Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.

Latest news

Lokomotiv
• Lokomotiv's five-game run without a victory in all competitions (D2 L3) was ended by Friday's 3-2 success at Tambov.

• Lokomotiv's five-match winning run in the Russian league was ended by a 3-0 home derby defeat by Spartak Moskva on 27 October, the first time this season they had conceded more than two goals in a competitive game. They drew their next two games before winning at Tambov.

• Aleksei Miranchuk scored as Russia rounded off their successful UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying campaign with a 5-0 victory in San Marino on 19 November.

• Anton Miranchuk came on as a half-time substitute in Lokomotiv's 1-1 draw at home to Krasnodar on 10 November, his first appearance since suffering a foot injury in the 1-0 win at Sochi on 14 September.

• Fedor Smolov came on in the second half against Krasnodar having recovered from a thigh injury that had kept him out since 6 October, but sat out Friday's win at Tambov.

• Grzegorz Krychowiak scored twice on Friday to make it eight league goals for the season, his most productive ever; it is as many goals as in his last six campaigns combined.

• Krychowiak also opened the scoring as Poland won 2-1 away to Israel in their penultimate UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier on 16 November.

• Dmitri Barinov missed Russia's final qualifiers against Belgium and San Marino with a muscle injury but recovered to play 90 minutes for Lokomotiv on Friday.

• Luka Djordjević has been out since 18 October due to a knee injury.

• Maciej Rybus had been out since 6 November with a muscle problem before playing 90 minutes at Tambov. João Mário (toe) has not played since 10 November.

• Jefferson Farfán and Boris Rotenberg are long-term absentees with knee injuries.

• Lokomotiv claimed their third Russian Super Cup on 6 July, beating Zenit 3-2.

• Holders Lokomotiv lost 4-1 on penalties at second division Baltika Kaliningrad in the last 32 of the Russian Cup on 25 September after a 1-1 draw.

Leverkusen
• Leverkusen have won three of the last five games, including a 2-0 victory at Wolfsburg on 10 November. They drew 1-1 at home to Freiburg on Saturday.

• Moussa Diaby got his first Bundesliga goal against Freiburg.

• Paulinho scored Leverkusen's second goal in Wolfsburg, also his first in the Bundesliga.

• Joel Pohjanpalo, who was out between March 2018 and October 2019 due to persistent foot problems, suffered an ankle injury in training with the Finnish national team on 12 November and has not played since.

• Lukas Hradecky kept a clean sheet as Finland defeated Liechtenstein 3-0 in Helsinki on 15 November to qualify for UEFA EURO 2020 – the country's first major tournament.

• Kai Havertz picked up a thigh injury in Leverkusen's win in Wolfsburg and missed Germany's European Qualifiers against Belarus and Northern Ireland, and Leverkusen's draw in Freiburg.

• Lars Bender, who had been out since 29 October due to a thigh injury, replaced Mitchell Weiser in the first half against Freiburg after the latter tore a ligament in his right ankle, an injury that is expected to sideline him for the rest of 2019.

• Daley Sinkgraven has not played since 5 October, also due to a thigh problem, but has returned to training.