Žilina need to master Marseille

After a slow start to their Group F campaign with neither side having secured a point from a combined four games, MŠK Žilina welcome Olympique de Marseille to Slovakia knowing they cannot afford a repeat of their Matchday 3 defeat in France.

• After both teams had lost to Chelsea FC and FC Spartak Moskva, Souleymane Diawara gave Marseille a much-needed victory in the teams' first meeting, scoring the only goal at the Stade Vélodrome three minutes after half-time.

Previous meetings
• The game in Marseille was their first ever meeting and was also the first time OM had faced opponents from Slovakia in a European fixture.

• Prior to Matchday 3, Žilina had been involved in three previous contests against French sides, all in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the 1995 group stage they lost 5-0 at home to Olympique Lyonnais while two years later they beat FC Metz 2-1 in the home leg of their second round tie, only to lose 3-0 in the return.

Match background
• Žilina's debut group stage campaign began with a visit from Chelsea, who inflicted a 4-1 defeat, Tomáš Oravec's second-half strike providing scant consolation for the Slovakian champions. They then conceded three more goals away to Spartak without managing to find the net themselves.

• Žilina came through three qualifying rounds to become the third Slovakian team to reach the UEFA Champions League group stage, after MFK Košice in 1997/98 and FC Artmedia Petržalka eight years later. In the play-off round a 1-0 home win against AC Sparta Praha sealed a 3-0 aggregate success for Pavel Hapal's side.

• In the second qualifying round a 1-0 away defeat by Birkirkara FC was overturned by Žilina's 3-0 victory at home. The Slovakian champions again scored three times at home in the third qualifying round, a 3-1 win completing a 4-2 overall triumph against PFC Litex Lovech.

• Marseille began with a 1-0 loss at home to Spartak, a late own goal by César Azpilicueta giving the Russian side their first win on French soil at the 11th attempt. The Ligue 1 champions then travelled to London to face Chelsea, losing 2-0.

• That defeat at Stamford Bridge means OM have lost seven of their last nine away games in the competition proper. They were on a run of six in succession before last season's Matchday 3 when they won at FC Zürich and then followed that with a 1-1 draw at AC Milan.

Team ties
• Tomáš Majtán scored for Slovakia's Under-21 side in a friendly against a France team including Loïc Rémy in August 2008. Majtán's was the opening goal in a 2-2 draw. Patrik Mráz also played for Slovakia.

• Didier Deschamps captained the France team in a EURO '96 qualifier against Slovakia in La Beaujoire in April 1995, setting up a goal for Vincent Guérin in a 4-0 win.