Olympiacos seek Benfica repeat

Olympiacos FC will be hoping for a repeat of their last home game with SL Benfica when the sides meet again in Piraeus having played out a 1-1 draw in Portugal on matchday three.

• That kept the teams level on four points in Group C. The Greek champions went down 4-1 at home to Paris Saint-Germain FC on matchday one before winning 3-0 away against RSC Anderlecht courtesy of Kostas Mitroglou's hat-trick. Benfica began with a 2-0 home victory over Anderlecht and then lost 3-0 away to PSG.

Previous meetings
• The sides met in Piraeus in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage when Olympiacos won 5-1. They took an early 3-0 lead with goals from Luciano Galletti (1), Christos Patsatzoglou (17) and Diogo (24) and led 4-1 at half-time after David Luiz (33) had pulled one back and Fernando Belluschi (44) had restored the three-goal difference. Diogo (53) completed the scoring.

• Maxi Pereira and Rúben Amorim both featured for Benfica with Óscar Cardozo on the bench and Avraam Papadopoulos in the home team.

• The teams on duty at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on 27 November 2008 were:
Olympiacos: Nikopolidis, Patsatzoglou, Domi, Galletti (Leto 59), Santo (Kovačević 69), P Djordjević, Antzas, Dudu, Papadopoulos, Belluschi (Óscar González 76), Pantos.
Benfica: Quim, Reyes, Maxi Pereira, David Luiz, Rúben Amorim (Javier Balboa 59), Binya, Jorge Ribeiro, Yebda (Carlos Martins 76), Sidnei, Suazo, Nuno Gomes (Urreta 56).

• It was the first time the sides had met in 25 years. In the 1973/74 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round, Benfica enjoyed 1-0 wins home and away while the overall score was 3-1 in the Portuguese side's favour in a 1983/84 second-round tie in the same competition. Olympiacos won 1-0 in Greece and Benfica 3-0 in Lisbon.

• Olympiacos have played 12 matches against Portuguese opposition, winning five, drawing two and losing five.

• Benfica have also played 12 games against Greek sides, winning six, drawing one and losing five.

Match background
• Olympiacos, in the group stage for the 15th time and their third in succession, reached the 1998/99 quarter-finals.

• Last season they finished third in Group B. They lost 2-1 at home to FC Schalke 04 before winning their two other home games, against Montpellier Hérault SC (3-1) and Arsenal FC (2-1).

• Olympiacos have won seven of their last ten home group games.

• In their ninth participation Benfica, twice winners of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, will be looking to improve on last season's campaign when they finished third in the group. They began with a 0-0 draw away to Celtic FC and also lost 2-1 at FC Spartak Moskva and drew 0-0 at FC Barcelona.

• The Portuguese side subsequently entered the UEFA Europa League and first won away at Bayer 04 Leverkusen before a 3-2 victory in France against FC Girondins de Bordeaux. In the quarter-finals they drew 1-1 at Newcastle United FC for a 4-2 aggregate success and then made light of a 1-0 defeat at Fenerbahçe SK to win 3-1 at home in the semi-final second leg. They lost the final 2-1 to Chelsea FC in Amsterdam.

Team ties
• Javier Saviola spent three seasons with Benfica from 2009 to 2012, winning the Portuguese title in 2009/10 and the League Cup three times. In 122 matches he scored 39 goals.

• Saviola and fellow Argentinian Ezequiel Garay were team-mates at Benfica in 2011/12 having also played together at Real Madrid CF in 2008/09.

• Roberto played for Benfica in 2010/11, helping them reach the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. He made 41 starts.

• Ljubomir Fejsa spent two seasons at Olympiacos before moving to Benfica this summer. He made 33 appearances, scoring once.

• Paulo Machado is a product of FC Porto's youth system and faced Benfica on six occasions with CF Estrela da Amadora, UD Leiria and Leixões SC. He scored Amadora's goal in a 2-1 home defeat by Benfica on 4 March 2006.

• Machado is a team-mate of Rúben Amorim, Sílvio, André Almeida and André Gomes with Portugal.

• Leandro Salino faced Benfica 12 times while with CD Nacional and SC Braga. In the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League semi-finals he helped Braga overcome Benfica to advance to the final.

• During three years at Braga, Salino was a team-mate of Sílvio, Artur, Lima and Rúben Amorim.

• Pablo Contreras met Benfica three times while with Sporting Clube de Portugal and Braga.

• The Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica has special meaning for Greek football as it is the stadium where Greece were crowned UEFA EURO 2004 champions by beating Portugal 1-0.