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København facing tricky task at OM

Olympique de Marseille are well placed for a last-16 berth in the UEFA Europa League although a repeat scoreline of FC København's last away game in the competition would be good enough for them to progress.

København facing tricky task at OM
København facing tricky task at OM ©UEFA.com

Olympique de Marseille may feel they have one foot in the last 16 as they await the home return of their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie against FC København having taken a 3-1 lead in the away leg.

• The game sparked into life when Mamadou Niang (72) put the visitors in front only to concede the handball which allowed Jesper Grønkjær to level from the spot seven minutes later. However, substitutes Hatem Ben Arfa (84) and Charles Kaboré (90) struck in the closing stages to win the game.

Previous meetings
• The first leg was the clubs' first competitive meeting. København's record in six games against French sides reads W1 D1 L4; in France W0 D1 L1. They lost to AJ Auxerre in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup second round but beat RC Lens in the first round of the same competition two seasons ago.

• Marseille's only game against Danish opponents prior to the first leg brought a 4-1 aggregate victory against Brøndby IF in the first round of the 1989/90 European Champion Clubs' Cup. They went on to reach the semi-finals, losing to SL Benfica.

Match background
• København were eliminated by Manchester City FC in last season's round of 32. They have yet to win a springtime UEFA club competition game in five attempts.

• UEFA Cup quarter-finalists last term, Marseille are looking to win through from the round of 32 for the fourth time in five seasons.

• OM have lost three of their last four home games in Europe, with an emphatic 6-1 win against FC Zürich in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the autumn breaking up that run of defeats.

• A 3-0 win at AC Sparta Praha in their final UEFA Europa League group stage game ended a run of four away matches without a win for København, stretching back to their 6-0 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round win at FK Mogren.

Team facts
• Gabriel Heinze faced København while in the ranks at Manchester United FC, losing 1-0 in Copenhagen in a UEFA Champions League group stage game on 1 November 2006.

• Fernando Morientes scored against København for Valencia CF in a 1-1 draw in Spain in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Marseille coach Didier Deschamps faced Denmark three times as a France player. He finished on the winning side once (3-0 at UEFA EURO 2000) but suffered two defeats (2-1 at the 1992 UEFA European Championship and 1-0 in a 1996 friendly).

• København coach Ståle Solbakken played for Norway against France in a goalless friendly in Oslo in 1995.

• The last two UEFA Cup winners – FC Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Shakhtar Donetsk – both beat Marseille en route to their final successes, in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively.

• The winners in this tie face either Hertha BSC Berlin or Benfica in the round of 16 on 11 and 18 March, playing the second leg at home.

Penalties
• Marseille have featured in three UEFA club competition penalty shoot-outs, beating FC Twente (7-6 in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32) and KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen (4-1, 2005/06 UEFA Cup first round), but losing 5-3 to FK Crvena Zvezda in the 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup final in Bari.

• København's only shoot-out to date ended in a 3-2 win at home against Ferencvárosi TC in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup.

København
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: Dame N'Doye
Players added to squad: Bryan Oviedo, Kenneth Zohore
Players removed from squad: Rune Nilssen, Niclas Jensen, Libor Sionko

Marseille
Suspended: Stéphane Mbia
Misses next match if booked: none
Players added to squad: none
Players removed from squad: Garry Bocaly, Cédric D'Ulivo