PAOK vs Marseille: UEFA Europa Conference League background, form guide, previous meetings

Greek Cup winners PAOK must come from behind against Marseille if they are to reach a European semi-final for the first time, the French side having made it five wins out of five in the UEFA Europa Conference League with a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the quarter-final at the Stade Vélodrome.

• PAOK registered 11 points in finishing second to FC Copenhagen in their UEFA Europa Conference League section during the autumn, before overcoming another Danish side, Midtjylland, 5-3 on penalties after each leg of the knockout round play-off had ended in a 2-1 home win, and then doing the double over Gent in the round of 16 (1-0 h, 2-1 h) to reach their first European quarter-final in almost half a century.

• Marseille came third in UEFA Europa League Group E, behind Galatasaray and Lazio, winning only their final fixture, at home to Lokomotiv Moskva, before sailing through their UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-off against Qarabağ (3-1 h, 3-0 a) and also claiming home and away wins (both 2-1) against Basel in the round of 16.

Previous meetings
• The first leg, which pitted the clubs against each other in UEFA competition for the first time, brought Marseille their sixth successive European victory and was adorned with a stunning long-range strike from Dimitri Payet, which made it 2-0 just before half-time following Gerson's 13th-minute opener. The visitors, however, responded with a fine strike of their own, from substitute Omar El Kaddouri three minutes after the interval, and 2-1 remained the final score, although Gerson was sent off for a second yellow card in added time.

• PAOK's home record against French teams is W3 L2, the most recent contest a 1-2 defeat by Guingamp that eliminated them from the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League group stage. They have won two of their three previous knockout ties against French opposition, though this is their first for almost 30 years.

• Marseille's away record against Greek visitors is W2 D1 L1, the defeat coming in the most recent encounter, 0-1 against Olympiacos in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage. OM have won both of their two previous knockout ties against Greek opposition.

Form guide
PAOK
• PAOK qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League twice over last season, as runners-up in the league to Olympiacos and winners of the Greek Cup – for the eighth time – thanks to a 2-1 victory over the champions in the final.

• Having exited last season's UEFA Europa League at the group stage, PAOK entered the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League in the third qualifying round, where, under returning head coach Răzvan Lucescu, they beat Bohemians before knocking out Rijeka in the play-offs. In the group stage they twice beat Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar 2-0 and drew both games against Slovan Bratislava (1-1 h, 0-0 a) in addition to trading 2-1 away wins with Copenhagen.

• PAOK have appeared in only one previous UEFA quarter-final, which they lost to AC Milan in the 1973/74 European Cup Winners' Cup (0-3 a, 2-2 h). The last Greek side to reach a European semi-final were Panathinaikos in the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League.

• PAOK had never won a European home fixture in the spring until this season, losing all four of their UEFA Europa League knockout phase games in the Stadio Toumba without scoring. However, the recent wins against Midtjylland and Gent mean they have been defeated only twice in their last 15 European home games (W8 D5).

• PAOK have won only six of the 18 UEFA ties in which they have suffered an away first-leg defeat, though they have been successful in the two this season in the UEFA Europa Conference League, against Irish side Bohemians in the third qualifying round (1-2 a, 2-0 h) and Midtjylland in the knockout round play-off (0-1 a, 2-1 h, 5-3 pens). That success against Bohemians means they have won three of the four ties in which they lost the first away leg 2-1, the only aggregate defeat having come in last season's UEFA Champions League qualifying play-off against Krasnodar (1-2 h).

Marseille
• Fifth in last season's Ligue 1, which they completed under current coach Jorge Sampaoli, who arrived in February, Marseille returned to the UEFA Europa League for a fifth appearance in the group stage – a record for a French club – after finishing fourth in their UEFA Champions League section last season behind Manchester City, Porto and – despite that home win – Olympiacos.

• OM suffered their third UEFA Europa League group stage failure this season, drawing all of their first four fixtures, including twice against Lazio (0-0 a, 2-2 h), before surrendering any chance of further progress when they lost 4-2 at Galatasaray on Matchday 5. A closing 1-0 home win against Lokomotiv confirmed their third-placed finish on seven points – five more than the Russian side – before they eased through their opening two UEFA Europa Conference League ties against Qarabağ and Basel.

• Marseille have appeared in eight major European quarter-finals, winning six of them, including the first five as well as the most recent, against RB Leipzig in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League (0-1 a, 5-2 h).

• Marseille ended a run of 11 European away games without a win (D3 L8) with their 3-0 win at Qarabağ – their first on the road since beating Athletic Club 2-1 in Bilbao in the second leg of the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 16. The subsequent win in Basel last month was just the third in OM's last 11 European away matches during the spring (D2 L6).

• Marseille have won 17 of the 23 UEFA competition ties in which they have claimed a home first-leg lead, doing so four times during their run to the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League final, including that round of 16 tie against Athletic, when they won the first leg 3-1, and most recently this season against both Qarabağ and Basel to make it eight successes in a row. The victory in Basel means their record after winning the first home leg 2-1 is now W4 L1.

Links and trivia
• Marseille striker Arkadiusz Milik's next appearance in UEFA club competition will be his 50th. He has scored 24 goals in his previous 49 matches.

• PAOK's El Kaddouri and Marseille's Amine Harit are fellow Moroccan internationals.

• Milik and El Kaddouri were team-mates at Napoli in the first half of 2016/17.

• Douglas Augusto (PAOK) and Gerson (Marseille) both began their careers at Rio de Janeiro club Fluminense, playing briefly together in 2015 and 2016.

• Marseille are one of three former European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals along with Dutch duo Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.

• PAOK are one of three reigning domestic cup holders participating in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals, along with Leicester City and Slavia Praha.

• PAOK are the only Greek club still involved in this season's three European club competitions.

• While PAOK had the weekend off, Marseille claimed their seventh successive victory in all competitions on Sunday with a 2-0 home win against Montpellier to remain second in Ligue 1.

• The winners of this tie will face Feyenoord or Slavia Praha in the semi-final.

Penalty shoot-outs
• PAOK's record in five UEFA penalty-shoot-outs is W1 L4:
4-5 v Eintracht Frankfurt, 1981/82 European Cup Winners' Cup first round
8-9 v Bayern München, 1983/84 UEFA Cup second round
3-4 v Sevilla, 1990/91 UEFA Cup first round
1-4 v Benfica 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round
5-3 v Midtjylland, 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-off

• Marseille's record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L1:
3-5 v Crvena zvezda, 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
4-1 v Germinal Beerschot, 2005/06 UEFA Cup first round
7-6 v FC Twente, 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32