Champions League Matchday 8: Club Brugge vs Marseille facts

Club Brugge will look to overhaul Marseille and claim a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds as the teams meet in Belgium on Matchday 8.

The Belgian side come into the final set of league phase fixtures in 27th position in the standings having claimed their first win since Matchday 1 last time out. Marseille are two points better off in 19th position.

Last match

The teams' only previous meetings came in the 1992/93 group stage, Marseille winning 3-0 in France – Alen Bokšić scoring twice after Franck Sauzée's early penalty – and 1-0 in Belgium with Bokšić getting the only goal.

Club Brugge have already beaten French opposition this season having opened their league phase campaign with a 4-1 home victory against Monaco on Matchday 1.

That was only the Bruges club's second win in their last nine fixtures against Ligue 1 clubs (D2 L5).

Club Brugge have lost only two of their last eight matches at home to French visitors (W3 D3).

Marseille have never lost to Belgian opponents in seven previous fixtures (W4 D3), most recently triumphing 3-2 at Union Saint-Gilloise on Matchday 6.

That made OM's record in Belgium W2 D2.

Club Brugge

This is Club Brugge's 12th Champions League group stage campaign – level with Anderlecht's Belgian record – and an eighth in ten seasons.

Twenty-fourth in last season's league phase (W3 D2 L3), Club Brugge went out 1-6 on aggregate to Aston Villa in the round of 16.

The Belgian side parted company with coach Nicky Hayen on 8 December, appointing their former player Ivan Leko as his replacement.

Marseille

This is Marseille's 12th Champions League campaign, but only a third in the last 12 seasons. They have not progressed to the knockout rounds since reaching the quarter-finals in 2011/12.

OM were not involved in UEFA competition in 2024/25 having reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in 2023/24.

Key stats

Club Brugge marked their 150th European Cup fixture with a 4-1 win at Kairat Almaty on Matchday 7 – ending a run of five Champions League games without a victory (D1 L4).

Victory in Kazakhstan was Club Brugge's first in six away league phase games (D1 L5) – they had lost the previous three this season.

Club Brugge's Brandon Mechele celebrates his 33rd birthday on the day of this match. The only other player to appear for the club on his birthday in the Champions League proper is Wesley, who featured against Leipzig on 24 November 2021, the day he turned 25.

After two successive league phase victories, Marseille went down 0-3 at home to Liverpool on Matchday 7.

OM had won 3-2 at Union SG on Matchday 6, meaning they are aiming to record successive away victories in the Champions League proper for the first time since 2010/11.

Igor Paixão has scored in Marseille's last two away league phase games.