Uefa Champions League 2012/13 Season Match Press Kit
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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2012/13 SEASON MATCH PRESS KIT Montpellier Hérault SC Arsenal FC Group B - Matchday 1 La Mosson, Montpellier Tuesday 18 September 2012 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Contents Previous meetings.............................................................................................................2 Match background.............................................................................................................4 Match facts........................................................................................................................5 Squad list...........................................................................................................................7 Head coach.......................................................................................................................9 Match officials..................................................................................................................10 Fixtures and results.........................................................................................................11 Match-by-match lineups..................................................................................................13 Group Standings.............................................................................................................14 Competition facts.............................................................................................................16 Team facts.......................................................................................................................17 Legend............................................................................................................................19 Montpellier Hérault SC - Arsenal FC Tuesday 18 September 2012 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT La Mosson, Montpellier Previous meetings Head to Head None Montpellier Hérault SC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 19/03/91 QF Montpellier Hérault SC - 0-2 Montpellier Blackmore 45, Bruce 48 Manchester United FC agg: 1-3 06/03/91 QF Manchester United FC - 1-1 Manchester McClair 1; Martin 7(og) Montpellier Hérault SC Arsenal FC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 01/11/11 GS Arsenal FC - Olympique de Marseille 0-0 London 19/10/11 GS Olympique de Marseille - Arsenal FC 0-1 Marseille Ramsey 90+2 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 22/10/02 GS Arsenal FC - AJ Auxerre 1-2 London Kanu 53; Kapo 8, Fadiga 27 02/10/02 GS AJ Auxerre - Arsenal FC 0-1 Auxerre Gilberto Silva 48 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 21/02/01 2ndGS Arsenal FC - Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 London Bergkamp 33; Edmílson 90 13/02/01 2ndGS Olympique Lyonnais - Arsenal FC 0-1 Lyon Henry 59 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 20/04/00 SF RC Lens - Arsenal FC 1-2 Lens Nouma 72; Henry 42, Kanu 86 agg: 1-3 06/04/00 SF Arsenal FC - RC Lens 1-0 London Bergkamp 2 09/12/99 R3 FC Nantes - Arsenal FC 3-3 Nantes Sibierski 13, 58, Vahirua 80; Grimandi agg: 3-6 25, Henry 31, Overmars 43 25/11/99 R3 Arsenal FC - FC Nantes 3-0 London Overmars 15(p), Winterburn 82, Bergkamp 90 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 25/11/98 GS Arsenal FC - RC Lens 0-1 London Debeve 72 16/09/98 GS RC Lens - Arsenal FC 1-1 Lens Vairelles 90; Overmars 51 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 16/03/95 QF AJ Auxerre - Arsenal FC 0-1 Auxerre Wright 16 agg: 1-2 02/03/95 QF Arsenal FC - AJ Auxerre 1-1 London Wright 60; Verlaat 63 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 12/04/94 SF Arsenal FC - Paris Saint-Germain FC 1-0 London Campbell 7 agg: 2-1 29/03/94 SF Paris Saint-Germain FC - Arsenal FC 1-1 Paris Ginola 50; Wright 35 Record versus clubs from opponents' country Last updated 17/09/12 23:50:14CET 2 Previous meetings Montpellier Hérault SC - Arsenal FC Tuesday 18 September 2012 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT La Mosson, Montpellier Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Montpellier Hérault SC 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 3 Arsenal FC 8 3 3 2 8 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 16 8 6 2 19 11 Last updated 17/09/12 23:50:14CET 3 Previous meetings Montpellier Hérault SC - Arsenal FC Tuesday 18 September 2012 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT La Mosson, Montpellier Match background Their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League provides Montpellier Hérault SC with a home game against Arsenal FC and an immediate reunion with their former striker Olivier Giroud. • The French international, Ligue 1's joint leading scorer last season with 21 goals, joined the London club during the summer and now makes a rapid return. Previous meetings • The sides have never met in a competitive fixture while Montpellier, Ligue 1 champions for the first time in 2011/12, have previously faced only one English side. That came in the 1990/91 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final when Manchester United FC got the better of them on their way to lifting the trophy. The first leg at Old Trafford ended 1-1 with United winning 2-0 in France. • Arsenal are making their second visit to France in successive seasons for a UEFA Champions League game. Their 1-0 win at Olympique de Marseille on 19 October 2011, courtesy of an Aaron Ramsey goal in added time, maintained their record of never losing an away fixture against Ligue 1 opposition in UEFA competition. Their eight visits have produced five wins and three draws and they have won their last four fixtures. • However the Marseille game bucked a trend because Arsenal have been struggling away from home in the competition proper; that win was only their second in 12 away games, eight of those fixtures ending in defeat. • The Gunners have lost two European finals in Paris: 2-1 to FC Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League and 2-1 (aet) to Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Match background • Arsenal, who finished third in the 2011/12 Premier League, are taking part in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 15th season in a row. For only the second time in seven campaigns they did not have to negotiate a qualifying round. • For the second season in a row Arsenal departed from last year's tournament in the round of 16. It was the 12th successive time that they had made it through the group and only the second campaign since 2006/07 that they had failed to reach the quarter-finals or better. • Arsène Wenger's team began last season's competition with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, extending their unbeaten run on matchday one to eight games including six wins and two draws. Their last opening-day defeat came on 17 September 2003 when FC Internazionale Milano won 3-0 at Highbury. • Away from home in the group they followed the Dortmund game by winning at Marseille before going down 3-1 at Olympiacos FC. After losing 4-0 away to Milan in the round of 16 they almost pulled off a stunning fightback but bowed out despite winning the return 3-0. Team ties • Wenger faced René Girard twice in Ligue 1 during his time as a defender with RC Strasbourg. Girard played for Nîmes Olympique in 1979 against Wenger, the game ending goalless, and for FC Girondins de Bordeaux in 1980 with Bordeaux winning 2-1. • Giroud spent two seasons at Montpellier scoring 33 goals in 73 Ligue 1 appearances. He had arrived from Tours FC having also played for Grenoble Foot 38 and FC Istres. • Bacary Sagna (AJ Auxerre 2004–2007), Laurent Koscielny (EA Guingamp 2004–2007, Tours FC 2007–2009, FC Lorient 2009/10), Sébastien Squillaci (AC Ajaccio 2000–2002, AS Monaco FC 2002–2006, Olympique Lyonnais 2006–2008), Abou Diaby (AJ Auxerre 2004–2005), Gervinho (Le Mans FC 2007–2009, LOSC Lille 2009–2011), Marouane Chamakh (FC Girondins de Bordeaux 2002-2010) and Mikel Arteta (Paris Saint-German FC 2001–2002) have all played in France. • John Utaka faced Arsenal four times while at Portsmouth FC between 2007 and 2011 and did not appear on the winning side. Portsmouth suffered three defeats, scoring two goals and conceding ten, with the other game ending scoreless. • Chamakh and Younes Belhanda are team-mates in the Morocco national team. Last updated 17/09/12 23:50:14CET 4 Match background Montpellier Hérault SC - Arsenal FC Tuesday 18 September 2012 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT La Mosson, Montpellier Match facts Montpellier UEFA Champions League statistics • This is Montpellier's first game in the European Cup. They are one of three clubs making their debut in the group stage this season, along with Málaga CF and FC Nordsjælland. • The French champions have scored 49 goals in UEFA competition. • Romain Pitau is suspended for the first two group stage matches following his red card against Győri ETO FC in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. International duty • Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (France), Younés Belhanda (Morocco), Henri Bedimo (Cameroon) and Jamel Saihi (Tunisia) were on international duty last week. • Yanga-Mbiwa received a yellow card in France's FIFA World Cup qualifying victories over Finland (1-0) and Belarus (3-1) and will be suspended for next month's encounter with Spain. • Rémi Cabella and Benjamin Stambouli were part of the France team that dropped their first points of the campaign by losing 2-1 to Slovakia on 7 September in 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying. Cabella was on target three