Leverkusen v Monaco background

Just five points separate the teams in Group C and leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen can ensure their place in the knockout rounds by avoiding defeat against AS Monaco FC.

• João Moutinho's goal gave the French side a 1-0 win on 16 September in their return to European competition after an absence of eight years.

Previous meetings
• The teams met in the 1997/98 group stage, Monaco winning 4-0 at home and drawing 2-2 away.

• The lineups at the BayArena on 10 December 1997 were:
Leverkusen: Heinen, R Kovač, Nowotny, Wörns, Heintze, N Kovač (Živković 61), Kirsten (Rink 86), Meijer, Ramelow, Lehnhoff, Beinlich.
Monaco: Barthez, Sagnol, Djetou (Diao 9), Dumas, Pignol, Irles, Legwinski, Collins (Henry 59), Benarbia (Carnot 63), Trezeguet, Ikpeba.

• The home team went 2-0 ahead through Stefan Beinlich and Erik Meijer before Monaco struck back via Christophe Pignol and Thierry Henry. The equaliser enabled Monaco to take first place in the section as both they and Leverkusen finished on 13 points.

• Monaco went on to the semi-finals where they lost to Juventus while Leverkusen exited in the quarter-finals at the hands of eventual winners Real Madrid CF.

Match background

Leverkusen
• The Monaco defeat was the only time Leverkusen have dropped points in the section. On matchday two the Werkself beat SL Benfica 3-1 and then won 2-0 at home and 2-1 away against FC Zenit.

• With nine points they are four ahead of Monaco, who lie second.

• Leverkusen are in the group stage for the ninth time. They finished second in their group last season and bowed out to French opponents, losing 6-1 on aggregate against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.

• The 2001/02 runners-up have won four of their seven games at home to Ligue 1 sides, losing two. Overall their record against French clubs is W5 D3 L6.

Monaco
• Two weeks after the win over Leverkusen, Monaco drew 0-0 at Zenit. They continued to struggle for goals in the two games with Benfica, drawing 0-0 at home before going down 1-0 away.

• Monaco have five points, one more than Zenit and Benfica.

• They have failed to score in five of their last six UEFA Champions League away games.

• This is Monaco's sixth group stage campaign and their first since 2004/05, when they reached the round of 16.

• Monaco have only lost one of their five away games in Germany, winning two. Their overall record is W6 D4 L3. They lost the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final 2-0 against SV Werder Bremen in Lisbon.

Coach and player links
• Dimitar Berbatov played for Leverkusen from 2001 to 2006, scoring 68 goals in 154 Bundesliga matches.

• Daniel Subašić and Dario Krešić are Croatia team-mates.

• João Moutinho's Portugal lost 1-0 to a Germany side including Lars Bender in the UEFA EURO 2012 group stage.

• Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho lost the 2006 FIFA World Cup third place play-off 3-2 against Simon Rolfes' Germany.

• Emir Spahić's Bosnia and Herzegovina were beaten 6-2 on aggregate by Moutinho's Portugal in the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs.

• Spahić also lost a 2010 World Cup play-off first leg 1-0 against Carvalho's Portugal.

• Geoffrey Kondogbia scored in France's 4-1 win against Hakan Çalhanoğlu's Turkey in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup round of 16.

Match facts

Leverkusen
• Wendell is available again after serving a one-game suspension on matchday four.

• Stefan Kiessling ended a run of 859 minutes without a Bundesliga goal as Leverkusen won 3-1 at Hannover 96 on Saturday.

• Gonzalo Castro (out since 21 September, thigh) and Rolfes (30 August, ankle) both returned to action at Hannover.

• Leverkusen followed up their victory in St Petersburg with a 0-0 home draw against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on 8 November.

• The Werkself have lost just one of their last 12 games in all competitions.

• Stefan Reinartz (since 25 October, eye socket) and Kyriakos Papadopoulos (1 November, shoulder) are sidelined.

• Vladlen Yurchenko converted a penalty in Ukraine U21s' 2-0 friendly victory over Turkey on 13 November.

Monaco
• Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, Layvin Kurzawa, Carvalho and Jérémy Toulalan are all a booking away from suspension.

• Monaco have managed just two wins in their last ten games in all competitions, and six in 18 as a whole this season.

• Geoffrey Kondogbia scored an own goal as Monaco were held to a 2-2 draw at SM Caen on Saturday.

• Lacina Traoré scored his first goal for the club and Tiémoué Bakayoko was sent off in a 1-1 draw at AS Saint-Étienne on 9 November.

• Kurzawa won his first two caps for France earlier this month, coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Albania before starting a 1-0 victory over Sweden, when he limped off with a hamstring problem.

• Borja López is yet to play this season because of a knee injury.

• Aymen Abdennour, sidelined with a thigh injury since August, returned to action with 90 minutes as Tunisia drew 0-0 in Senegal on 10 October in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.