Arsenal face Fenerbahçe challenge

Fenerbahçe SK will be looking to end Arsenal FC's long run of seasons in the UEFA Champions League when the sides meet in the first leg of their play-off in Istanbul.

• The 1997/98 campaign was the last time Arsenal did not feature in Europe's elite club competition but to secure a 16th consecutive campaign, they must get past a Fenerbahçe side fresh from a 4-2 aggregate triumph over FC Salzburg in the third qualifying round.

Past meetings
• Arsenal were 5-2 winners when they last visited the Sükrü Saraçoglu Stadium in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage – a result that ended Fenerbahçe's 15-match unbeaten home run in Europe.

• Emmanuel Adebayor (10) and Theo Walcott (11) scored early and despite Mikaël Silvestre's own goal (19), the London club strengthened their grip through further strikes by Abou Diaby (22) and Alexandre Song (49). Daniel Güiza (78) pulled one back but Aaron Ramsey (90) added Arsenal's fifth.

• The lineups on 21 October 2008 were:
Fenerbahçe: Volkan Demirel, Gökhan Gönül (Burak 79), Edu Dracena, Lugano, Roberto Carlos, Maldonado (Ali Bilgin 52), Alex, Selçuk Şahin, Uğur Boral, Semih Şentürk, Güiza.
Arsenal: Almunia, Eboué, Song, Silvestre, Clichy, Walcott (Djourou 84), Fàbregas, Diaby (Ramsey 73), Denilson, Nasri, Adebayor (Vela 86).

• Luis Aragonés's Fenerbahçe restored some pride in the return fixture a fortnight later by earning a goalless draw.

• Arsenal also got the better of a Fenerbahçe team coached by Ersoy Sükrü in the first round of the 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup. Terry Neill's side – who went on to reach the final – won 2-0 at home through Alan Sunderland (30) and Willie Young (87) before a goalless draw in Istanbul.

Match background
• League runners-up in Turkey last term, Fenerbahçe are bidding to return to the group stage for the first time since that 2008/09 campaign. They missed out on a sixth appearance 12 months ago, suffering a play-off defeat by FC Spartak Moskva, but instead reached their first ever European semi-final in the UEFA Europa League before losing to SL Benfica.

• In seven home games in last season's UEFA Europa League, Fenerbahçe posted four wins, two draws and just one defeat.

• Fenerbahçe came up against Premier League opposition in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, beating Chelsea FC 2-1 at home but losing 2-0 in the second leg in London. Their overall home record against English sides is W3 D1 L3.

• Fenerbahçe's only two-legged win against an English team was a 2-1 aggregate success against Manchester City FC in the 1968/69 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round.

• Fourth in the English Premier League last term, Arsenal have a 100% record in UEFA Champions League qualifiers, winning both legs as they overcame each of NK Dinamo Zagreb (2006/07, agg 5-1), AC Sparta Praha (2007/08, agg 5-0), FC Twente (2008/09, agg 6-0), Celtic FC (2009/10, agg 5-1) and Udinese Calcio (2011/12, agg 3-1).

• Arsenal have never played in the rebranded UEFA Europa League and their last game in the old UEFA Cup was actually the 1999/2000 final, which they lost 4-1 on penalties to Galatasaray AŞ after a 0-0 draw – their only other meeting with a Turkish team.

• Arsenal reached the last 16 of last term's UEFA Champions League before succumbing to FC Bayern München, the eventual winners, on away goals. Their 2-0 second-leg victory in Munich left them with a record of W2 D1 L1 on the road in 2012/13.

Team ties
• Home coach Ersun Yanal is a UEFA Champions League debutant but when in charge of Gençlerbirliği SK, he got the better of Blackburn Rovers FC in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round, winning 3-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away.

• Besides his defeat with Arsenal against Galatasaray in the 2000 UEFA Cup final, Arsène Wenger lost to the same opponents as AS Monaco FC coach in the European Cup quarter-finals in 1988/89. Wenger's Monaco earned a 2-0 win in Istanbul as they beat Galatasaray home and away in the 1993/94 group stage.

• Emre Belözoğlu (Newcastle United FC 2005-08), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool FC), Raul Meireles (Liverpool FC 2010-11 and Chelsea FC 2011-12) and Joseph Yobo (Everton FC 2002-10) have all had spells in English football.

• Kuyt scored in Liverpool's 1-1 draw at Arsenal en route to a 5-3 aggregate triumph in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals – one of four goals in 15 appearances against the Gunners.

• Yobo lost ten of his 13 matches against Arsenal while at Everton, including a 7-0 away defeat in 2005 and a 6-1 home loss in 2009.

• Emre made his Premier League debut in a 2-0 loss at Arsenal. He missed Galatasaray's UEFA Cup final win against the Gunners after a red card in the semi-final win over Leeds United AFC, but was in the FC Internazionale Milano team that won 3-0 at Arsenal in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Mikel Arteta played with Yobo at Everton from 2005-2010, and against Kuyt and Meireles in Merseyside derbies when that pair were at Liverpool.

• Pierre Webó and Nacho Monreal played together at CD Osasuna in 2006/07.

• Bruno Alves was in the FC Porto team eliminated by Arsenal in the last 16 in 2009/10, winning 2-1 at home before a 5-0 away defeat. He scored in Porto's 2-0 home victory in the previous season's group stage.