Monaco v Leverkusen background

AS Monaco FC are back in European competition after an absence of eight years, and their opening home encounter against Bayer 04 Leverkusen features new coaches on either side. 

Previous meetings
• The sides met in the 1997/98 group stage, Monaco winning 4-0 at home and drawing 2-2 away.

• The teams at Stade Louis II on 1 October 1997 were:
Monaco: Barthez, Pignol, Djetou, Dumas, Konjić (Irles 46), Legwinski (Christanval 54), Collins, N'Doram (Benarbia 71), Henry, Trezeguet, Ikpeba.
Leverkusen: Heinen, Živković (Rydlewicz 60), R Kovač, Happe, N Kovač, Emerson, Heintze, Lehnhoff (Rink 60), Lottner, Meijer, Feldhoff (Frydek 83).

Match background

Monaco

• This is Monaco's fifth group stage campaign and their first since 2004/05, when they reached the round of 16. They were runners-up the previous year.

• The French side, who replaced coach Claudio Ranieri with Leonardo Jardim in the summer, have lost only one of their past 18 European home games, winning 14. In the UEFA Champions League, qualifying included, they have lost one of their past 14 home games, winning 11.

• Last season's Ligue 1 runners-up have won their last three home games with German clubs, scoring nine goals without reply. Their first three fixtures yielded two draws and a defeat.

• Monaco's record against German opponents is W5 D4 L3. They lost the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final 2-0 against SV Werder Bremen in Lisbon.

Leverkusen

• Leverkusen, where Roger Schmidt succeeded Sami Hyypiä as coach at the end of last season, qualified for their ninth group stage campaign with a 7-2 aggregate win over FC København in the play-offs, Stefan Kiessling scoring three.

• After finishing second in their group last season, Leverkusen went out against French opponents in the round of 16, losing 2-1 at Paris Saint-Germain after a 4-0 home reverse.

• The 2001/02 runners-up suffered a 4-2 away defeat at Manchester United FC on matchday one last year, the second successive campaign they had started with an away reverse following their 2-0 loss at Chelsea FC in 2011/12.

• The Werkself won 1-0 at Real Sociedad de Fútbol in last year's group stage, their first UEFA Champions League victory outside Germany in 11 years and 16 matches. They also drew at FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

• Leverkusen's 1-0 win at Olympique Lyonnais in the 2001/02 group stage is their only victory in France to date. Their record reads W1 D2 L3.

Player links
• Dimitar Berbatov played for Leverkusen from 2001 to 2006, scoring 68 goals in 154 Bundesliga matches.

• Monaco's Daniel Subašić and Leverkusen's Dario Krešić are Croatia team-mates.

• João Moutinho's Portugal lost 1-0 to a Germany side including Lars Bender in the UEFA EURO 2012 group stage.

• Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho lost the 2006 FIFA World Cup third place play-off 3-2 against Simon Rolfes' Germany.

• Emir Spahić's Bosnia and Herzegovina were beaten 6-2 on aggregate by Moutinho's Portugal in the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs.

• Spahić also lost a 2010 World Cup play-off 1-0 against Carvalho's Portugal.

• Geoffrey Kondogbia scored in France's 4-1 win against Hakan Çalhanoğlu's Turkey – the hosts – in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup round of 16.

Match facts

Monaco

• Leonardo Jardim has overseen one win and three losses in five Ligue 1 games since arriving from Sporting Clube de Portugal this summer and is yet to record a home victory. At the same stage last term, Monaco were top of the league.

• Dimitar Berbatov has scored seven goals in the club's last 11 games.

• Monaco have scored at least once in each of their last 13 games.

• Fabinho earned his first senior call-up for Brazil's recent friendly against Ecuador.

• Layvin Kurzawa scored twice as France beat Kazakhstan 5-1 on 4 September to book a place in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs.

Leverkusen

• Leverkusen had won five out of five this season before Friday's 3-3 draw at home to SV Werder Bremen. They also began last term well, winning six of their first seven Bundesliga games.

• Lars Bender captained the side on Friday, on his return from the thigh injury that ruled him out of the FIFA World Cup.

• Leverkusen have scored 22 goals in six outings this season.

• Stefan Kiessling has scored nine goals in six games this season. Five of them came in a 6-0 win at sixth-tier SV Alemannia Waldalgesheim on 15 August in the German Cup first round.

• It took Karim Bellarabi nine seconds to score the first goal of their league season in a 2-0 win at Borussia Dortmund – the fastest ever Bundesliga goal.

• Tin Jedvaj scored at both ends in Leverkusen's 4-2 win at home to Hertha BSC Berlin on 30 August. At 18 years and 275 days, he is the youngest player ever to do so in the Bundesliga.

• Jedvaj made his Croatia debut as a substitute in the 2-0 friendly win against Cyprus on 4 September.

• Simon Rolfes and Julian Brandt have been sidelined with ankle injuries while Kyriakos Papadopoulos dislocated his right shoulder in training.

• Ömer Toprak was sent off in Turkey's 3-0 defeat away to Iceland in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying on 9 September.

• During last season's group stage, Leverksuen suffered their heaviest home defeat in European competition (0-5 v Manchester United FC on matchday five) and recorded their biggest UEFA Champions League win (4-0 v FC Shakhtar Donetsk, matchday three).