Liverpool, Ludogorets in Champions League survival fight

Liverpool and Ludogorets are playing for their UEFA Champions League (UCL) lives when they meet in Sofia on match day five.

The clubs sit joint bottom of Group B with three points each and need a victory to retain realistic hope of overtaking second-placed Basel who has six points.

Only six teams in UCL history have taken three points or fewer from their opening four group games and still managed to progress to the next round.

The Reds and Ludogorets hope to emulate Rosenborg (1996/97, 3 points); Olympique Lyon (2000/01, 3 points); Lokomotiv Moscow (2002/03, 1 point); Newcastle United (2002/03, 3 points); Porto (2004/05, 2 points); and VfB Stuttgart (2009/10, 3 points) and grab a ticket to the knockout stage.

Arsenal will follow match day five opponents Borussia Dortmund into the UCL knockout rounds if they avoid defeat at the Emirates.

The Gunners need only a point to reach the next phase for the 15th consecutive season as they face a Dortmund side who booked their place in the last 16 with victory on match day four.

Below are match backgrounds to Wednesday’s key games.

ARSENAL V DORTMUND

• The November 2011 win over BVB was Arsenal’s sixth in succession against German visitors; since then they have lost four in a row at home, most recently the 2-0 reverse against Bayern Munich in last season’s round of 16 first leg which led to a 3-1 aggregate loss. It was the second successive year Bayern had eliminated them at that stage.
• Arsenal’s home record against German clubs is W9 D1 L5; overall it is W14 D6 L11.
• The Gunners followed the defeat at BVB with a 4-1 home victory over Galatasaray, Danny Welbeck scoring a hat-trick, and then won 2-1 at Anderlecht.
• In the return against the Belgian champions, Arsenal took a 3-0 lead before the hour only to be pegged back to 3-3. That put them on seven points, five ahead of third-placed Anderlecht and well placed to progress from the group for the 15th time in 17 seasons.
• Dortmund have won both away games in Group D, against Anderlecht (3-0) and Galatasaray (4-0), and conceded only one goal so far, beating Galatasaray 4-1 at home on match day four.
• With maximum points so far, they hold a five-point advantage over Arsenal and have qualified for the knockout rounds for the third successive season.
• Their last six UCL away fixtures have produced five wins and a single defeat, 3-0 at Real Madrid in last season’s quarter-finals which led to a 3-2 aggregate reverse.
• Dortmund, winners in 1996/97 and runners-up two years ago, are in their tenth group stage campaign.

LUDOGORETS V LIVERPOOL

• Ludogorets won their last home game 1-0 against Basel to become the first Bulgarian club to obtain any points in the UCL.
• They have a strong recent home record in UEFA competition, with five wins, three draws and two defeats from the last ten games.
• This is their first home meeting with an English club.
• Liverpool have not scored in the competition since beating Ludogorets 2-1 at Anfield on match day one. They last failed to score in four consecutive European matches in the 2005/06 UCL.
• Liverpool have failed to qualify from the group stage twice in eight previous UCL campaigns (2002/03 and 2009/10).
• In the 2001/02 UCL, Liverpool found themselves in an identical position in the second group stage with three points after four matches. They still managed to qualify as group runners-up with seven points.
• Liverpool last faced Bulgarian opposition in the 2005/06 third qualifying round when they won 3-1 at CSKA Sofia in the first leg, then lost 1-0 at Anfield in the return.
• Captain Steven Gerrard – who played in the first leg – is the only survivor of that tie. He also featured when Liverpool beat Levski Sofia in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup third round, scoring in both legs as the Merseysiders won 2-0 at home and 4-2 away.
• The Reds’ record in Bulgaria is W3 D0 L1. That solitary defeat came when, as defending champions, they lost 2-0 at PFC CSKA Sofia (1-2 aggregate) in the 1981/82 European Champion Clubs’ Cup quarter-finals.

BASEL V REAL MADRID

• Second in Group B, Basel are seeking to complete a hat-trick of home wins in the section having already got the better of Liverpool (1-0) and Ludogorets (4-0).
• Basel have won seven and lost just one of their ten European home games since the start of last season.
• Basel beat Valencia 3-0 at home in last season’s UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, before falling 5-0 after extra time in the return in Spain. Their overall home record against Spanish sides is W2 D2 L3.
• Carlo Ancelotti’s men are on a seven-match winning streak in the UCL.
• The defending champions have won six of their last eight away games in the competition, including victories over Ludogorets (2-1) and Liverpool (3-0) in this group stage.
• Madrid’s last visit to Switzerland brought a 5-2 victory at FC Zurich in the 2009/10 group stage, featuring two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo on his first UCL appearance for the club.
• The Merengues’ record away to Swiss opposition is W6 D0 L4. They have never drawn against a Swiss side in 21 matches overall (W17 D0 L4).

THE FIXTURES

Group A

Atletico Madrid v Olympiakos

Malmo v Juventus

Group B              

Basel v Real Madrid

Ludogorets v Liverpool

Group C

Zenit v Benfica

Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco

Group D

Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund

Anderlecht v Galatasaray