Manchester City gun for holders Porto

FC Porto need a first win in England in 15 visits if they are to continue their UEFA Europa League title defence, with Manchester City FC on course for a round of 16 meeting with Legia Warszawa or Sporting Clube de Portugal.

• Silvestre Varela (27) put Porto ahead in the first leg, but Álvaro Pereira's own goal (55) brought City level and substitute Sergio Agüero finished from close range (85) to win the game 2-1.

Previous meetings
• City's only previous meeting with Portuguese opponents came in the quarter-finals of their triumphant 1969/70 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup campaign, when they drew 0-0 at A. Académica de Coimbra before Tony Towers scored the only goal of the tie in the 119th minute at Maine Road.

• The sides have been paired for the first time in UEFA competition although they did meet in a 2006 pre-season friendly at the City of Manchester Stadium. Porto won 1-0 courtesy of Adriano's 43rd-minute strike.

• Porto have played 29 games against English clubs in Europe with the record W6 D8 L15 (W0 D2 L12 in England).

Match background
• Both teams finished third in their respective UEFA Champions League groups; Porto lost out to APOEL FC and FC Zenit St Petersburg in Group G, while FC Bayern München and SSC Napoli took the first two places in Group A ahead of City.

• City are unbeaten in 15 European home fixtures − 12 wins and three draws − since a 1-0 UEFA Cup first round loss against FC Midtjylland on 14 August 2008.

• A 2-0 victory at FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their final UEFA Champions League group game this season ended a four-match losing streak on the road for Porto.

• City are playing in the round of 32 for the third time in four seasons; they eliminated FC København in 2008/09, going on to reach the last eight, and beat Aris Thessaloniki FC last season before bowing out to FC Dynamo Kyiv in the last 16.

• Porto's two most recent UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League campaigns, in 2002/03 and last season, ended with them winning the tournament; they have not lost a two-legged tie since a 2-0 aggregate defeat by Liverpool FC in the 2000/01 quarter-finals.

Team facts
• This will be City's 50th UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League game.

• City's Gareth Barry turns 31 the day after the Porto decider.

• Mancini captained UC Sampdoria and scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Porto in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals; his side had lost 1-0 at home but progressed with a penalty shoot-out success.

• As a coach Mancini, came up against Porto six times with previous clubs with the record W2 D2 L2 (W2 D1 L0 at home).

• Mancini's S.S. Lazio faced Porto in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup semi-finals, losing 4-1 on aggregate.

• His FC Internazionale Milano side overcame Porto 4-2 on aggregate in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League round of 16. The sides met again in the following season's group stage, Porto winning 2-0 at home but losing 2-1 at San Siro.

• Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany took on Porto with Hamburger SV in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage; De Jong played in a 4-1 defeat in Porto while Kompany featured in Hamburg's 3-1 home loss.

• Gaël Clichy and Samir Nasri played in the Arsenal FC side that eliminated Porto 6-2 overall in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League round of 16; Nasri scored in Arsenal's 5-0 second-leg victory in London.

• Clichy, Nasri and Kolo Touré also took on Porto in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage, Arsenal winning 4-0 in London; none of them featured in Porto's 2-0 home win.

• Touré played in both games as the sides met in the 2006/07 group stage; Arsenal won 2-0 at home and drew 0-0 away, a match in which Clichy also appeared.

• Nasri was in the Olympique de Marseille team defeated 2-1 at Porto in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Agüero took on Porto four times in the UEFA Champions League with Club Atlético de Madrid. Porto won their 2008/09 round of 16 tie on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw; in the 2009/10 group stage, Agüero's Atlético lost 2-0 at home and 3-0 away.

• Porto coach Vítor Pereira learned his craft with the club's Under-15 team, subsequently working as head coach at AD Sanjoanense, SC Espinho and CD Santa Clara before becoming André Villas-Boas's assistant – and then successor – at the Estádio do Dragão.

• As a forward City manager Mancini won 36 caps for Italy, and Serie A titles – and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup – with both Lazio and Sampdoria. As a coach, he won three Italian titles with Inter before joining City in 2009; his first trophy in Manchester came in last season's FA Cup.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will take on Legia or Porto's Liga rivals Sporting in the round of 16 on 8 and 15 March, playing the second leg at home.

• Neither side have met either of their potential opponents in UEFA competition.

Competition statistics
• An updated version of the UEFA Europa League Statistics Handbook is available here:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=1750416.html