Braga to test Ranieri's resolve

New Parma FC coach Claudio Ranieri will look to put his side's Serie A woes to one side as SC Braga come calling in a UEFA Cup Round of 32 second leg.

• Despite resolute defending from the Italian side in the first leg, Braga hold a 1-0 advantage. Parma took the game to their visitors in the first leg but looked destined to emerge with a 0-0 draw until Zé Carlos struck with nine minutes remaining to give them a lead to defend in the return fixture.

• Braga qualified for this stage as the third-placed side in UEFA Cup Group C. Parma finished top of Group D.

• Prior to last week's first leg, the two sides had never met in European competition.

• Braga met Italian opponents for the first time in the first round of this season's UEFA Cup, winning 3-2 on aggregate (2-0 at home, 1-2 away) against AC Chievo Verona to reach the group stage.

• Parma have been drawn against Portuguese opponents on three previous occasions in UEFA competition. Following last week's defeat in Braga, their record for individual games against Portuguese sides reads won three, drawn one, lost three.

• Parma beat Braga's Liga rivals Boavista FC 2-0 on aggregate in the second round of the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup en route to winning the competition. Goalkeeper Luca Bucci is the only current Parma player to have featured in that game, playing in both legs.

• Braga can take comfort from the fact that Parma were knocked out of the first round of the 1996/97 UEFA Cup by their most fierce local rivals Vitória SC. The Italian side won 2-1 at home but lost 2-0 in Guimaraes.

• The tie reunites Braga forward João Pinto with Parma defender Fernando Couto - 18 years after both helped Portugal to win the 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. Ranieri, who led his side for the first time in the first leg against Braga, said: "Couto has a terrific personality. He will be the boss in our dressing room. If he gets behind me, the other players will follow."

• The first-leg lineups were:
Parma: Bucci, Contini, Perna, Paci, Bocchetti, Coly, Dessena, Gasbarroni, Pisanu (Paponi 64), Cigarini (Bolano 79), Kutuzov (Muslimović 60).
Braga: Paulo Santos, Paulo Jorge, Luís Filipe, Carlos Fernandes, Nem (Rodriguez 46), Vandinho, Frechaut (Bruno Gama 37), Ricardo Chaves, Zé Carlos, Césinha, João Pinto.

• The winners will face Tottenham Hotspur FC in the Round of 16, playing the home leg first on 8 March before the away second leg a week later.