Standard in place to progress

R. Standard de Liège may feel they have a foot in the quarter-finals after winning 3-1 at Panathinaikos FC in their UEFA Europa League round of 16 opener, especially as the Greens are yet to win a game in Belgium.

• Axel Witsel (8) and Milan Jovanović (16) scored early in Athens, and though Loukas Vintra (48) responded after the break, a goal from Igor De Camargo (74) put Standard firmly in control.

Previous meetings
• Standard have come up against both of Panathinaikos's big domestic rivals (Olympiacos FC and AEK Athens FC) in previous European fixtures, with their record reading W2 D1 L1 (W2 D0 L0 in Belgium).

• The two most recent of those encounters came against Olympiacos in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage, Standard losing 2-1 in Piraeus but winning 2-0 at home.

• Panathinaikos have played 11 games against Belgian clubs, leaving them with the record W2 D4 L5 (W0 D1 L4 in Belgium).

• Panathinaikos coach Nikos Nioplias and his assistant Krzysztof Warzycha were both members of the Panathinaikos side that bowed out to Club Brugge in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round.

Match background
• Standard have lost only one of their last 11 European home fixtures, going down 3-2 to Arsenal FC in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage. The likes of UC Sampdoria, Everton, Sevilla FC and FC Zenit St. Petersburg all lost at the Marcel Dufrasne Stadium during this run, while Liverpool FC were held 0-0.

• Panathinaikos have won three of their four away games since the start of the group stage, beating FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti, SK Sturm Graz and AS Roma in addition to a 1-0 loss at Galatasaray AŞ.

• Standard have not reached the quarter-finals of a major UEFA club competition since the 1981/82 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, when they beat FC Porto en route to a 2-1 final defeat by FC Barcelona at Camp Nou.

• Panathinaikos also met Porto in their most recent European quarter-final, a 2002/03 loss to José Mourinho's side who went on to lift the UEFA Cup in Seville.

Team facts
• Panathinaikos striker Djibril Cissé faced Standard's Belgian rivals RSC Anderlecht with Liverpool in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win in Belgium and his side's third in a 3-0 victory in the return fixture.

• Cissé was a Liverpool striker from 2004 to 2006, while Standard's Serbian front man Milan Jovanović will move to Anfield in the summer, having signed a pre-contract agreement.

• Back at the club after a five-year absence, defender Giourkas Seitaridis was a member of the Panathinaikos side that beat Anderlecht 3-2 on aggregate in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup fourth round, winning 3-0 at home and losing 2-0 in Brussels.

• Team-mate Giorgos Karagounis also appeared in both of those fixtures.

• Greece and Belgium have met in six international fixtures, with three wins for Greece, two for Belgium and one draw. Neither nation has won an away game against the other. In their most recent meeting – an August 2005 friendly – Karagaounis featured on the losing side as Belgium prevailed 2-0 in Brussels.

• Panathinaikos are three goals shy of 300 in UEFA club competition. This will be their 237th European outing.

• The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be staged at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday 19 March. There is no country protection.

Penalties
• Standard and Panathinaikos have never participated in a shoot-out in UEFA club competition.