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Brugge hungry for points against Porto

Club Brugge can take heart from an unbeaten home record against teams from Portugal and a coach with deep knowledge of the Portuguese game as they prepare to face Porto.

Brugge coach Michel Preud'homme played in Portugal for Benfica
Brugge coach Michel Preud'homme played in Portugal for Benfica ©AFP/Getty Images

Club Brugge KV and FC Porto are both still pursuing a first win in Group G as they face off at the Jan Breydelstadion on matchday three.

Previous meetings
• Porto prevailed 5-3 on aggregate when the clubs met in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup second round.

• Porto won the first leg 3-0 at the Estádio das Antas through goals by Abel Miglieti (6, 49) and Flávio Fonseca (48). Although Club Brugge managed three goals in the return – through Ruud Geels (3), John Thio (45) and Nico Rijnders (65) – Flávio (34) and Miglieti (88) scored again for the visitors from Portugal.

Match background

Club Brugge
• Michel Preud'homme's Belgian champions are seeking their first point – and goal too – after defeats by Leicester City FC (0-3 home) and FC København (0-4 away).

• Brugge have lost four of their last five European home fixtures (W1 L4 F2 A11).

• They are unbeaten in four previous home matches against Portuguese visitors (W3 D1).

• Club Brugge's most recent encounter with a Portuguese club was against CS Marítimo in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League group stage. A 2-0 home win, with goals by Carlos Bacca and Björn Vleminckx, was their only victory in a campaign that ended with them bottom of the group after a 2-1 matchday six loss in Madeira where Lior Refaelov found the net.

Porto
• Porto sit third in Group C after a home draw with FCK (1-1) and away defeat at Leicester (0-1).

• Nuno Espírito Santo's men have one impressive away result to their name already this season: a 3-0 triumph at AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

• Porto lost their first six away games against Belgian opposition before breaking their duck at KRC Genk in a 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-off tie, winning 3-0 through goals from Radamel Falcao, Souza and Fernando Belluschi. Jelle Vossen was in the Genk side and scored his team's goals in their 4-2 second-leg loss in Portugal.

Coach and player links
• As R. Standard de Liège goalkeeper, Preud'homme got the better of Porto in the 1981/82 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (2-0 h, 2-2 a). 

• Preud'homme played in Portugal for SL Benfica from 1994 to 1999, winning the Portuguese Cup in 1996. He had a subsequent spell as technical director of the Lisbon club (1999–2000).

• His record as a Benfica player against Porto was P15 W3 D4 L8.

• Preud'homme was also in the Belgium side who took four points off Portugal in 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying (1-1 a, 3-0 h). Playing for KV Mechelen, meanwhile, he lost 3-2 (aggregate) to Sporting Clube de Portugal in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup first round.

• Nuno had mixed fortunes against Belgian opposition last season when facing KAA Gent in the UEFA Champions League with Valencia CF, winning 2-1 at home but losing 1-0 away.

• Laurent Depoitre lost three times at the Jan Breydelstadion with Gent last term. Overall he faced Club Brugge in seven matches in 2015/16 (W3 L4), scoring three times, including the only goal of the Belgian Super Cup on 16 July 2015.

Match facts

Club Brugge
• Timmy Simons and Rudy Vormer are both yellow cards away from a one-match ban.

• Brugge have won four of their last six games.

• José Izquierdo (groin) and Laurens De Bock (knee) suffered injuries in training on 1 October and were ruled out for four weeks.

• Björn Engels is expected to sit out the rest of the group stage after suffering a shoulder injury against Leicester on matchday one.

• Refaelov is likely to be sidelined until November. He underwent surgery on his pubis on 22 August.

• Ricardo van Rhijn scored his first goal for the club direct from a free-kick to earn a 1-0 win at home to Gent on 2 October in the Flanders derby.

Porto
• André Silva has scored seven goals in his last six matches for club and country.

• Diogo Jota scored a hat-trick, his first in senior level, as Porto beat CD Nacional on 1 October. At 19, he became the youngest Portuguese player to achieve the feat in a Porto shirt.

• André Silva, earning his fourth cap, hit a hat-trick as Portugal won 6-0 in the Faroe Islands on 10 October (Cristiano Ronaldo had to wait 106 caps for his first three-goal salvo). At 20, he is Portugal's youngest hat-trick scorer and, with the goals coming in the space of 25 minutes, also the quickest. He is the first Porto player to hit three in a game for Portugal in 88 years.

• André Silva had also scored three days earlier in the 6-0 triumph over Andorra.

• Diogo Jota claimed a goal and an assist in Portugal U21s' 3-3 draw against Hungary on 6 October. Five days later Rúben Neves was on target as Portugal rounded off 2017 U21 EURO qualifying unbeaten, winning 7-1 in Liechtenstein.

• Jesús Corona has been struggling with a thigh injury but returned to training on 11 October and was among the scorers as Porto beat GD Gafanha 3-0 in the Portuguese Cup on Saturday.

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