Rapid powered up for PSG

After seeing their last encounter with Paris Saint-Germain FC cut disappointingly short by power failure, AFC Rapid Bucuresti will hope to make amends as the sides lock horns again in UEFA Cup Group G.

• Having earned a goalless draw in the first leg of the 2001/02 UEFA Cup first round tie in Paris, the match went into extra time at the Giulesti stadium after the 90 minutes ended goalless.

• José Aloisio broke the deadlock for PSG in added time but the game ended in confusion as a power cut turned off the floodlights with seven minutes of the match remaining. The game was subsequently awarded as a 3-0 win for PSG.

• Those two matches marked the two sides' only previous meetings in European competition.

• Rapid's biggest European achievements have been reaching the quarter-finals of the 1972/73 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and last season's UEFA Cup.

• Rapid have played French opponents on three previous occasions, playing one-off ties against Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais FC as well as that two-legged tie against PSG.

• Thus far they have overcome French opposition only once at home, beating Rennes 2-0 in last year's UEFA Cup group stage.

• Victors in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup winners, PSG have won over half of the 120 games they have played in UEFA club competition to date.

• They have faced Romanian opposition on eight previous occasions, recording six wins, one draw and one defeat.

• That sole defeat came against Rapid's neighbours FC Steaua Bucuresti in the second qualifying round of the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League.

• The first-leg encounter in Bucharest ended as a 3-2 win for Steaua, but the game was subsequently awarded as a 3-0 win for the Romanian side as PSG had fielded an ineligible player - Laurent Fournier, who went on to coach them.

• Nonetheless, the French side made amends, winning 5-0 in the return leg.

• Group G's other Matchday 1 fixture sees Panathinaikos FC face Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the Netherlands.