PSG to press home advantage

Paris Saint-Germain FC are within sight of a place in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 as they look to defend a 2-0 lead at home against AEK Athens FC.

• Sammy Traoré opened the scoring in first-half added time in Athens in the first leg before a stunning late effort from Bernard Mendy doubled Paul Le Guen's side's advantage.

• AEK qualified for the Round of 32 as the third-placed side in UEFA Champions League Group H. PSG finished second in UEFA Cup Group G.

• The clubs previously met in a 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final tie. The first leg in Paris was drawn 0-0, but a Patrice Loko hat-trick in the second sent the French team through to the semi-finals, where they beat Liverpool FC before losing the final 1-0 against FC Barcelona in Rotterdam.

• Newly-appointed Le Guen played in both legs of that tie. The former defensive midfielder also played his first games in European competition against Greek opposition as PSG beat PAOK FC 5-0 on aggregate in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round.

• The first leg against AEK was Le Guen’s first European match in charge of PSG since taking over from Guy Lacombe on 15 January. The coach joined after leaving Rangers FC by mutual consent. The Scottish club face Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in this round.

• PSG have now played six games against Greek sides, with Le Guen involved in all but one of them – a 4-0 win against Panathinaikos FC in this season's UEFA Cup group stage. PSG have yet to lose, or concede a goal, against Greek opposition.

• Prior to last week's first leg against PSG, AEK had met French opposition on 15 previous occasions in the course of five knockout ties, two UEFA Champions League group stage campaigns and a UEFA Cup group stage. They lost all five knockout ties, but finally beat a Ligue 1 representative (LOSC Lille Métropole 1-0) in this season's UEFA Champions League.

• Including last week's first leg against PSG, AEK's record against French sides reads won one, drawn six and lost nine.

• AEK midfielder Akis Zikos will be up against a host of former team-mates from his time at AS Monaco FC between 2002 and 2006. PSG midfielders Marcelo Gallardo, Edouard Cissé and Jerôme Rothen all played alongside Zikos at the Stade Louis II.

• Prior to facing PSG last week, AEK coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer's only previous experience against French opposition came as the Spaniard led his Real Betis Balompié side to a 3-2 aggregate loss to Monaco in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

• The first-leg lineups were:
PSG: Landreau, Mendy, Traoré, Cissé, Kalou, Chantôme, Rodriguez, Hellebuyck, Mulumbu, Diané (Luyindula 68), Sakho (Drame 85).
AEK: Sorrentino, Moras, Cirillo, Tziortziopoulos, Kiriakidis (Kafes 46), Pliatsikas (Georgeas 63), Lakis (Kone 53), Tőzsér, Manduca, Kapetanos, Júlio César.

• The aggregate winners will face SL Benfica or FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti in the Round of 16, playing the home leg on 8 March and the away second leg a week later.