Pogrebnyak seeks Larissa gift

FC Zenit St. Petersburg striker Pavel Pogrebnyak will look to mark his 24th birthday in style as the Russian side travel to face Larissa FC in Group A.

• Zenit drew 1-1 at home against AZ Alkmaar in their opening game, while Larissa lost 3-1 at Everton FC.

• The two sides have never met in European competition.

• Larissa have met Russian opposition before, taking on FC Dinamo Moskva in the quarter-finals of the 1984/85 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They drew 0-0 at home but lost 1-0 in the then Soviet capital.

• Zenit have played three previous games against Greek sides - all of them in the UEFA Cup. They won 5-1 at home against AEK Athens in the 2004/05 group stage, Aleksandr Kerzhakov registering a hat-trick, and knocked the same side out of the 2005/06 first round, drawing 0-0 at home but winning 1-0 in the Greek capital thanks to Andrei Arshavin's 89th-minute winner.

• Zenit are thus yet to lose a game against Greek opponents.

• Larissa coach Georgios Donis played for AEK in two different spells but was not involved in any of the games against Zenit.

• Donis played for Greece in two EURO '96™ qualifying defeats against Russia - 3-0 at home and 2-1 in Moscow.

• Zenit coach Dick Advocaat faced Greek opposition during his time as Rangers FC manager, with his side winning 2-0 at home and drawing 0-0 away against PAOK FC in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup second qualifying round.

• Zenit striker Pogrebnyak celebrates his 24th birthday on 8 November, the day of the match.

• Larissa boast an excellent home record in UEFA club competition and are yet to lose a game on home soil since beating Budapast Honvéd FC 2-0 on their European debut in September 1983.

• Zenit are a dangerous side on their travels. In their last six European away games, they have lost only once and won three times. They have also scored at least once in their last 13 European games.

• Larissa's 34-year-old former Slovakian international striker Jozef Kožlej will be up against two former international colleagues, Zenit goalkeeper Kamil Čontofalský and defender Martin Škrtel.

• Kožlej and Čontofalský also played together at Slovakian side 1. FC Košice - now MFK Košice - between 1997 and 2000.

• 1. FC Nürnberg are at home against Everton in the day's other Group A game.