Malmö v Juventus background

Malmö FF will attempt to keep their Group A ambitions alive when they entertain Juventus on matchday five.

• Bottom of the section, the Swedish champions would join Juventus and Olympiacos FC on six points if they win and Olympiacos were to lose at Club Atlético de Madrid; equally, though, they will be eliminated if Juventus beat them.

• Juventus overcame Malmö 2-0 in Turin on matchday one and know that another victory would take them into second place if Olympiacos drop points at Atlético.

Match background

Malmö
• Malmö's 2-0 reverse to Atlético last time out ended an eight-match unbeaten home run in UEFA competition; they had kept eight successive clean sheets.

• Qualifiers included, Åge Hareide's side had won three straight home games prior to Atlético's visit – including the 2-0 success over Olympiacos FC on matchday two.

• The Himmelsblått last hosted Serie A opponents in the 1989/90 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round, beating FC Internazionale Milano 1-0 to lay the platform for a 2-1 aggregate triumph.

• Their overall home record against Italian opposition is W2 D1 L1.

• Malmö are Sweden's first group stage representatives since Helsingborgs IF in 2000/01.

• There are six teams in UEFA Champions League history who have registered three points or less from their opening four group games and still managed to progress from this stage of the competition, including Rosenborg BK, one of Hareide's former clubs, in 1996/97.

Juventus
• Juventus have lost their two away matches in Group A without scoring – 1-0 defeats at Atlético and Olympiacos.

• The Bianconeri have been beaten in five of their last six away games in the UEFA Champions League, drawing the other. Their last win outside Turin was at Celtic FC (3-0) in the 2012/13 round of 16.

• Juventus's sole previous meeting with a Swedish side prior to this season came against Djurgårdens IF in the 2004/05 third qualifying round. They overturned a two-goal deficit in a 2-2 home draw before prevailing 4-1 at Råsundastadion. Gianluigi Buffon played for Juve, while Matias Concha was in the Djurgården team.

Coach and player links
• As a player, Hareide won 2-1 in Italy with Norway in a September 1985 friendly. As a coach, he has lost on all three previous visits: 1-0 at Parma FC with Helsingborg (1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round), 3-0 at Parma with Brøndby IF (2001/02 UEFA Cup third round) and 2-1 with Norway in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier in September 2004.

• In August 2010, Markus Rosenberg came off the bench to notch the 93rd-minute goal that took SV Werder Bremen's UEFA Champions League play-off second leg at UC Sampdoria into extra time. The German outfit eventually won 5-4 on aggregate.

• Rosenberg also scored Bremen's late winner in a 2-1 victory over Inter in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage. The result took them into the UEFA Europa League, where they knocked out Andrea Pirlo's AC Milan in the round of 32.

• Simon Thern was born in Naples during his father Jonas's days playing in Serie A for SSC Napoli and AS Roma.

• Agon Mehmeti appeared three times in Serie A for US Città di Palermo in 2012/13. He then had a loan spell at Novara Calcio in Serie B, scoring six times in 22 outings.

• Markus Halsti played against Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba in the Finland team beaten home and away by France in 2014 World Cup qualifying.

Match facts

Malmö
• Magnus Eriksson is a yellow card away from suspension.

• Malmö's league campaign ended on 1 November. The Blues clinched the Swedish championship with three rounds to spare, a 3-2 victory over AIK Solna on 5 October ensuring they became the first team since 2003 to successfully defend the title.

• Malmö – minus internationals Emil Forsberg, Isaac Kiese Thelin, Felip Helander and Halsti – needed extra time to win at third-tier IS Halmia in the Swedish Cup second round on 15 November. Enock Adu (75) made it 1-1, with Rosenberg scoring the winner from the spot after 102 minutes.

• Hareide named four junior players in his squad for the Halmia match, Malmö's last domestic game of 2014. The cup group stage is in March.

• Malmö defeated Finnish champions HJK Helsinki 4-0 in a friendly on 20 November.

• Regular full-backs Anton Tinnerholm and Ricardinho played as wingers at Halmia and Adu, normally a midfielder, was deployed at centre-back.

• Tinnerholm sustained a calf injury that prevented him from joining the Sweden squad for their friendly against France on 18 November.

• Malmö scored in all 15 of their home league games in 2014. The only visiting teams to have kept a clean sheet at Malmö New Stadium this year are FK Ventspils (0-0, 16 July), Helsingborg (0-2, 1 May) and Atlético (4 November, 0-2).

• Robin Olsen and Erik Johansson have not played since 4 November due to thigh complaints.

Juventus
• Stephan Lichtsteiner and Pogba are both a booking away from suspension.

• Five days after beating Olympiacos, Juventus defeated Parma 7-0 – their biggest top-flight win since 11 September 1983 and a 7-0 victory over Ascoli Calcio.

• Juventus have won their last 24 Serie A home games, an Italian top-flight record.

• After 12 matches the Bianconeri have 31 points, the same number as at the same stage last season when they amassed a Serie A record total of 102.

• Álvaro Morata made his senior debut for Spain on 15 November, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying victory against Belarus.

• On 12 November, Carlos Tévez won his first cap in more than three years in Argentina's 2-1 friendly triumph over Croatia in London.

• Andrea Pirlo and Angelo Ogbonna missed Italy's games against Croatia and Albania with thigh injuries, though Pirlo started Saturday's 3-0 win at SS Lazio. Simone Padoin was sent off midway through the second half in Rome.

• Martín Cáceres, who has not played since 5 October, is still sidelined with a thigh problem. Left-backs Evra and Kwadwo Asamoah are recovering from muscle injuries.

• On 20 November, Juventus announced that Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini have extended their contracts until 2017 and 2018 respectively.

• Pogba is the only Serie A player among the 23 nominees for the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or. The three-man shortlist will be announced on 1 December, with the winner revealed on 12 January. Antonio Conte, who guided Juventus to the Scudetto last season, is in the running for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football.