Hertha hoping to take Sporting chance

Hertha BSC Berlin know a draw will move them through to the UEFA Europa League round of 32 as Group D winners Sporting Clube de Portugal conclude their campaign at the Olympiastadion.

• Boasting a better head-to-head record in their games against SC Heerenveen, the only way Hertha can miss out is if they lose and the Dutch club win against FK Ventspils in the night's other fixture.

Previous meetings
• Sporting beat Hertha 1-0 on Matchday 2, to end a 16-game wait for a win against a German side. They have avoided defeat only once in eight trips to Germany, drawing 0-0 at FC Bayern München in a UEFA Champions League game on 31 October 2006.

• Hertha's three home games against Portuguese sides have netted them a defeat, a win and – most recently – a 1-1 UEFA Cup group-stage draw against Sporting's Lisbon rivals SL Benfica on 23 October 2008.

Match background
• Sporting made it all the way through to the 2004/05 UEFA Cup final following their only group-stage appearance. However, they lost the showpiece 3-1 to PFC CSKA Moskva at their own Estádio José Alvalade. Hertha competed in two UEFA Cup group-stage campaigns, reaching the round of 32 in the 2005/06 edition but missing the cut last season.

• Hertha have won only one of their last five European home games, beating Brøndby IF 3-1 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sportpark in this season's UEFA Europa League play-offs. They have won only one of their last nine continental games at the Olympiastadion, 2-0 against Saint Patrick's Athletic FC on 16 September 2008.

• Sporting are unbeaten in their four UEFA club competition away games since their last trip to Germany, when they lost 7-1 at Bayern in last season's UEFA Champions League first knockout round.

Team facts
• Friedhelm Funkel is taking charge of his fourth UEFA Europa League game with Hertha since being named as the club's coach on 3 October. A striker at FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, he has coached Uerdingen, MSV Duisburg, FC Hansa Rostock, 1. FC Köln and – from 2004 until earlier this year – Eintracht Frankfurt.

• Hertha had a different coach for their first two Group D games. Lucien Favre was in charge for the 1-1 draw against Ventspils, while his stand-in replacement Karsten Heine was on the bench for the 1-0 loss at Sporting.

• Sporting coach Paulo Bento resigned in the wake of the team's 1-1 stalemate with Ventspils on Matchday 4, even though that result saw the club extend their best ever unbeaten European run.

• Bento's assistant Leonel Pontes was placed in temporary command before Carlos Carvalhal took over on 16 November. The 44-year-old former defender has coached various clubs in his native Portugal including Leixões SC, Setúbal, CF Os Belenenses, SC Braga, SC Beira-Mar and CS Marítimo, winning the Portuguese League Cup in 2008 with Setúbal.

• Hertha's Brazilian defender Kaká knows all about Portuguese football, having represented Sporting's Liga rivals A. Académica de Coimbra from 2006 to 2008.

• Sporting reserve goalkeeper Ricardo Batista and Hertha custodian Jaroslav Drobný were team-mates at Fulham FC in the 2005/06 season, though neither made a first-team appearance in the Premier League during their time in London.

• Sporting striker Liedson celebrates his 32nd birthday on 17 December, the day after the game against Hertha.

• Sporting are four goals shy of their 350th in UEFA club competition, with this their 223rd European fixture.