Marseille v Braga background
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Article summary
Marseille have not won in their last eight encounters with Portuguese opponents as they welcome Braga, who will seal early progress to the round of 32 with another victory.
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Olympique de Marseille will look to put the brakes on SC Braga's UEFA Europa League Group F progress after an agonising defeat by the Portuguese outfit last time out.
Previous meetings
• When the sides met for the first time on matchday three, Marseille rallied from 2-0 down to level with three minutes left, only for Alan to register a late winner for the Arsenalistas.
• Braga's only previous encounters with French opponents came in a 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain – they drew 0-0 in Paris and lost the home leg 1-0.
• Marseille have won only once in nine games against Portuguese teams: W1 D2 L6 (W1 D1 L2 at home – W0 D1 L4 in Portugal). That sole victory was in the first of those fixtures – a 2-1 home success against SL Benfica in the 1989/90 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finals.
Form guide
• Should Braga win, they are through.
• Marseille's 3-0 triumph at FC Groningen on matchday one remains their only victory in their last 13 continental games (W1 D2 L10).
• Braga, SSC Napoli and SK Rapid Wien are the only teams to have maximum points going into matchday four.
• Marseille have twice featured in this group stage – they advanced to the 2005/06 UEFA Cup round of 32 but missed the cut in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League.
• Losing finalists in 2011 – when they transferred over at the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage – Braga have made it to the round of 32 in all four of their previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Braga to Marseille is around 1,150km.
• The game is taking place the day after Marseille goalkeeper Yohann Pelé's 33rd birthday.
• Braga have French talent in the form of erstwhile AJ Auxerre centre-back Willy Boly. Marseille have a Portuguese player too – Cape Verde-born defender Rolando.
• Braga's Brazilian midfielder Alef was on loan with Marseille's B-team last season.
The coaches
• Míchel replaced Marcelo Bielsa as Marseille coach in August 2015. A two-time UEFA Cup winner with Real Madrid CF in the 1980s, he has coached Getafe CF and Sevilla FC in his native Spain and came to France after leading Olympiacos FC to three successive Greek Super League titles.
• Appointed by Braga this summer, former defender Paulo Fonseca had a low-key playing career. Having made his name in the second division as boss of CD Aves, Fonseca twice coached FC Paços de Ferreira in the top division either side of a stint in charge of FC Porto, where he was once on the books as a player.
