After starting their Group H campaign with a 1-0 home victory against AZ Alkmaar, Olympiacos FC will be looking for a similar performance when they play host to R. Standard de Liège on Matchday 3.
• The Greek champions will want to get back on track after a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal FC in their second fixture while Standard, with only one point from their first two games, will be anxious to put a first win on the board. The Belgian champions let slip an early two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at home to Arsenal in their first outing, although Moussa Traore provided a late boost at AZ on Matchday 2 with an added-time equaliser.
Match background
• This is the first official fixture between the teams and only the second time that each has been involved in a competitive tie against a team from their rivals' country.
• Standard have cause for optimism having come out on top in their only previous tie against Greek opposition, beating AEK Athens FC 6-3 on aggregate in the 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round. A 2-2 draw in Athens – a match Standard led 2-0 at half-time – preceded a 4-1 home win.
• Olympiacos will not look back fondly on their only previous competitive visit to Belgium, however, going down 5-1 at RSC Anderlecht in the European Champion Clubs' Cup second round in October 1974. The Greek club would much prefer to focus on Elias Galakos's hat-trick in the 3-0 second-leg win, although it was not enough to prevent elimination.
• The victory against AZ improved Olympiacos's record at home in the UEFA Champions League. Before that they had managed just two wins in ten fixtures with four defeats and four draws.
Team ties
• Michał Żewłakow and Mbokani Bezua have both had spells at Anderlecht, although not at the same time. Żewłakow left Anderlecht for Olympiacos in summer 2006 at about the same time that Bezua signed on at the Constant Vanden Stock. He had a year there before making the switch to Standard.
• Żewłakow made 96 league appearances over four seasons with Anderlecht, winning Eerste Klasse titles in 2004 and 2006. He also spent 1998/99 with KSK Beveren before a three-year stint at R. Excelsior Mouscron. During his time with Mouscron and Anderlecht the Polish defender faced Standard eleven times, winning four, drawing one and losing six.
• Olympiacos midfielder Enzo Maresca was in the Sevilla FC side beaten 1-0 at Standard in the UEFA Cup group stage on 6 November 2008.
• Olof Mellberg, meanwhile, was part of the Sweden team beaten 2-1 by co-hosts Belgium in the UEFA EURO 2000™ group stage.
• Antonis Nikopolidis was the Greece goalkeeper for a 2-0 friendly loss against Belgium in Brussels in August 2005.