Braga face up to English demons

SC Braga will look to end a woeful run of results against English opposition as they travel to Bolton Wanderers FC for their first UEFA Cup Group F fixture.

• The two sides have never met in UEFA club competition.

• Bolton have come up against Portuguese opposition once before, drawing 1-1 against Vitória SC in Guimarães in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. They have never played a UEFA club competition fixture against a Portuguese side in England.

• Braga have played six games against English sides in the course of three UEFA Cup knockout fixtures, and have lost all of them. Most recently, they met Tottenham Hotspur FC in last season's round of 16, losing both legs of the tie by the same score – 3-2.

• Prior to those fixtures, they had never scored in a game against English opposition.

• Braga coach Aloisio Pires Alves played against two English sides during his time as a player for FC Porto. He played in the first leg of a 2000/01 UEFA Cup quarter-final tie against Liverpool – which ended in a 0-0 draw – and in a 4-0 defeat against Manchester United FC at Old Trafford in the first leg of the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

• Playing in only their second European campaign, Bolton have never lost at home in five UEFA club competition matches. They have yet to score more than two goals in a European game, and have never won in Europe by a margin of more than one goal.

• FK Crvena Zvezda are at home against FC Bayern München in the day's other Group F game.