Aberdeen ready for last-ditch effort

Aberdeen FC can take a place in the last 32 at FC København's expense provided they can reverse their disappointing run at home against Danish sides in their final Group B game at Pittodrie.

• Jimmy Calderwood's team are bottom of the group, having lost to Panathinaikos FC and Club Atlético de Madrid away either side of a 1-1 draw at home against FC Lokomotiv Moskva. They will be out of the competition if they fail to beat København.

• Having won at Lokomotiv in between defeats at home against Panathinaikos and Atlético, København are third – and will stay there provided they avoid defeat in Aberdeen.

• The team finishing third in the section will face the winners from one of the other groups in the Round of 32, playing the home leg of their tie first.

• Aberdeen and København have never met before in their current guises, but Aberdeen did meet B 1903 København – one of the two clubs who merged to form FC København – in the first round of the 1991/92 UEFA Cup.

• Then, the Danish side progressed comfortably with a 1-0 win in Scotland and a 2-0 win at home. Brian Kaus scored the winner at Pittodrie, while Michael Johansen and Jørgen Juul Jensen were on target in Copenhagen.

• That was B 1903's last season in European competition. They merged with Kjøbenhavns BK to form FC København in the summer of 1992.

• That match represented Aberdeen's first meeting with Danish opposition, and they subsequently met Brøndby IF in a 1996/97 UEFA Cup second round game, losing 2-0 at home and drawing 0-0 in Copenhagen.

• Thus, their current record in four games against Danish sides is one draw and three losses, and they have lost both of their previous home games. Moreover, they have never scored a goal against a Danish team.

• In their current guise, København have played four games against Scottish teams, winning one, drawing one and losing two, with a draw and a defeat from their games in Scotland.

• In total, København and their predecessors have played ten games against Scottish sides, winning five, drawing one and losing four. Their five games in Scotland have produced a win, a draw and three defeats.

• Aberdeen forward James Smith celebrates his 27th birthday on the day of the match while goalkeeper Jamie Langfield turns 28 on 22 December, two days later.

• København boast a couple of former Rangers FC players who will know all about Scottish football.

• Jesper Christiansen played for Rangers between 2000 and 2003, but spent most of the time on loan or on the bench.

• Libor Sionko spent the 2006/07 season in Glasgow, but injury limited him to three goals from 18 league appearances.

• Aberdeen's Michael Hart is within a booking of a one-match suspension while København's Brede Hangeland is serving a ban after receiving a third yellow card of the campaign in his side's last UEFA Cup game.

• Atlético are at home against Panathinaikos in Thursday's other Group B game.

• The draw for the Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be held in Nyon on 21 December from 13.00CET.