UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2016/17 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Arsenal Stadium - London Wednesday 19 October 2016 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Arsenal FC Group A - Matchday 3 PFC Ludogorets 1945 Last updated 23/10/2019 16:18CET UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Squad list 5 Head coach 8 Match officials 9 Fixtures and results 10 Match-by-match lineups 14 Competition facts 16 Team facts 17 Legend 19 1 Arsenal FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Wednesday 19 October 2016 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Arsenal Stadium, London Previous meetings Head to Head No UEFA competition matches have been played between these two teams Arsenal FC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country Arsenal FC have not played against a club from their opponents' country PFC Ludogorets 1945 - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Dani Abalo 3, Terziev PFC Ludogorets Razgrad - 26/11/2014 GS 2-2 Sofia 88; Lambert 8, Liverpool FC Henderson 37 Balotelli 82, Gerrard Liverpool FC - PFC Ludogorets 16/09/2014 GS 2-1 Liverpool 90+3 (P); Dani Abalo Razgrad 90+1 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Arsenal FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PFC Ludogorets 1945 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 3 4 2 Arsenal FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Wednesday 19 October 2016 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Arsenal Stadium, London Match background Arsenal FC take on Bulgarian opponents for the first time in UEFA competition looking to maintain their unbeaten start with a second win, while PFC Ludogorets Razgrad seek a belated lift-off for their Group A challenge. Match background Arsenal • The Gunners began their 19th successive group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Paris Saint-Germain where Olivier Giroud was sent off in added time. They then beat FC Basel 1893 at home with an early pair of Theo Walcott goals. • In each of the last six seasons Arsenal have fallen in the round of 16, going down 5-1 on aggregate to FC Barcelona in 2015/16 (0-2 home, 1-3 away). In their group home matches last term they first lost 3-2 to Olympiacos FC before beating FC Bayern München 2-0 and GNK Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. • The Barcelona reverse means Arsenal have lost seven and won eight of their last 16 home games in the competition proper. Ludogorets • Their only previous visit to England ended in a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool FC in the 2014/15 group stage, their only previous appearance at this stage. • Dani Abalo equalised in added time (90+1) only for Steven Gerrard to pop up with the winner from the penalty spot two minutes later. Ludogorets lost all three away games in that campaign. • The reverse fixture with Liverpool ended 2-2, a key result as the Reds failed to reach the round of 16. • Ludogorets' second UEFA Champions League group stage campaign began with a 1-1 draw in Basel. Two weeks later they lost 3-1 at home to Paris – in both games they had taken the lead before being pegged back. • After winning the Bulgarian title for the fifth season in a row, Ludogorets scored 15 goals in the qualifying campaign to book their return to the group stage. • They first beat FK Mladost Podgorica 2-0 at home and 3-0 away. Against FK Crvena zvezda they followed a 2-2 draw at home with a 4-2 extra-time win away. Wanderson scored three of the goals in the away leg. • In the play-offs a 2-0 home win over FC Viktoria Plzeň set up a 4-2 aggregate victory. Coach and player links • Claidiu Keșerü was a team-mate of Laurent Koscielny and Giroud at French second division side Tours FC in 2008/09. • Igor Plastun and Lucas Pérez were team-mates at Ukrainian side FC Karpaty Lviv during 2012/13. Match facts Arsenal • Olivier Giroud is available after serving a one-game ban on matchday two. • Arsenal are ten matches unbeaten since the 4-3 loss to Liverpool on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. • The Gunners had not conceded in 409 minutes prior to Gylfi Sigurdsson's effort for Swansea City FC in Saturday's 3-2 victory for the Gunners. • Alexis Sánchez has scored five goals in his last eight outings for Arsenal. • Giroud suffered a recurrence of his foot problem on duty with France and is expected to be sidelined until the end of the month. • Aaron Ramsey has not played since the opening day of the season because of a hamstring problem. • Granit Xhaka captained Switzerland for the first time as they won 2-1 in Andorra on 10 October in the European Qualifiers. He was sent off against Swansea. • Alex Iwobi scored his first international goal with a volley as Nigeria won 2-1 in Zambia on 9 October in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. Nacho Monreal won his first cap in three years as Spain beat Albania 2-0 the same day. • Arsène Wenger marked 20 years as Arsenal boss on 1 October. • Captain Per Mertesacker is not in Arsenal's group stage squad because of a knee injury. A similar problem is likely 3 Arsenal FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Wednesday 19 October 2016 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Arsenal Stadium, London to keep Danny Welbeck out until 2017. Ludogorets • Natanael is a yellow card away from a one-match ban. • The Bulgarian champions are seven matches unbeaten away from home. • Ludogorets have kept one clean sheet in their last ten outings, conceding 13 goals in that time. • Ludogorets have lost just one of their last 12 matches in all competitions, winning eight of them. • Jonathan Cafú has scored five goals in his last six appearances. 4 Arsenal FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Wednesday 19 October 2016 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Arsenal Stadium, London Squad list Arsenal FC Current season All-time UCLQ UCL League UCL UEFA No. Player Nat. DoB Age D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 13 David Ospina COL 31/08/1988 28 - - - 2 - - - 8 - 10 - 26 Emiliano Martínez ARG 02/09/1992 24 - - - - - - - 2 - 2 - 33 Petr Čech CZE 20/05/1982 34 - - - - - 8 - 111 - 126 - 50 Deyan Iliev BUL 25/02/1995 21 - - - - - - - - - - - 53 Hugo Keto FIN 09/02/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - Defenders 2 Mathieu Debuchy FRA 28/07/1985 31 - - - - - - - 22 - 47 1 3 Kieran Gibbs ENG 26/09/1989 27 - - - 1 - 3 - 35 1 38 2 5 Gabriel BRA 26/11/1990 25 - - - - - - - 4 - 12 - 6 Laurent Koscielny FRA 10/09/1985 31 - - - 2 - 7 2 35 2 39 2 16 Rob Holding ENG 20/09/1995 21 - - - - - 3 - - - - - 18 Nacho Monreal ESP 26/02/1986 30 - - - 2 - 8 - 20 - 32 - 20 Shkodran Mustafi GER 17/04/1992 24 - - - 2 - 5 - 7 - 13 - 24 Héctor Bellerín ESP 19/03/1995 21 - - - 2 - 8 - 12 - 12 - 25 Carl Jenkinson ENG 08/02/1992 24 - - - - - - - 8 - 13 - 38 Marc Bola ENG 09/12/1997 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 39 Tolaji Bola ENG 04/01/1999 17 - - - - - - - - - - - 42 Kristopher Da Graca SWE 16/01/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 51 Chiori Johnson ENG 05/10/1997 19 - - - - - - - - - - - Midfielders 8 Aaron Ramsey WAL 26/12/1990 25 - - - - - 1 - 39 8 46 11 11 Mesut Özil GER 15/10/1988 28 - - - 2 - 7 3 63 7 85 8 15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ENG 15/08/1993 23 - - - 2 - 6 1 24 3 26 3 19 Santi Cazorla ESP 13/12/1984 31 - - - 2 - 8 2 37 - 84 9 29 Granit Xhaka SUI 27/09/1992 24 - - - 2 - 7 1 17 - 39 4 31 Jeff Reine-Adélaïde FRA 17/01/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 34 Francis Coquelin FRA 13/05/1991 25 - - - 1 - 6 - 16 - 21 1 35 Mohamed Elneny EGY 11/07/1992 24 - - - 2 - 4 - 14 1 40 3 37 Krystian Bielik POL 04/01/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - 1 - 40 Gedion Zelalem GER 26/01/1997 19 - - - - - - - 1 - 1 - 46 Charlie Gilmour SCO 11/02/1999 17 - - - - - - - - - - - 55 Ainsley Maitland-Niles ENG 29/08/1997 19 - - - - - - - 1 - 1 - 58 Marcus McGuane ENG 02/02/1999 17 - - - - - - - - - - - 60 Savvas Mourgos GRE 16/03/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 65 Ben Sheaf ENG 05/02/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 68 Chris Willock ENG 31/01/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - Forwards 7 Alexis Sánchez CHI 19/12/1988 27 - - - 2 1 8 4 40 10 52 11 9 Lucas Pérez ESP 10/09/1988 28 - - - - - 2 - - - 18 4 5 Arsenal FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Wednesday 19 October 2016 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Arsenal Stadium, London Arsenal FC Current season All-time UCLQ UCL League UCL UEFA 12 Olivier Giroud FRA 30/09/1986 30 - - - 1 - 3 - 24 10 29 12 14 Theo Walcott ENG 16/03/1989 27 - - - 1 2 8 5 54 13 62 16 17 Alex Iwobi ENG 03/05/1996 20 - - - 2 - 6 - 4 - 4 - 22 Yaya Sanogo FRA 27/01/1993 23 - - - - - - - 3 1 7 1 32 Chuba Akpom ENG 09/10/1995 21 - - - - - - - - - - - 41 Josh Dasilva ENG 23/10/1998 17 - - - - - - - - - - - 44 Aaron Eyoma ENG 22/09/1997 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 48 Kaylen Hinds ENG 28/01/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 57 Stephy Mavididi ENG 31/05/1998 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 64 Tyrell Robinson ENG 16/09/1997 19 - - - - - - - - - - - Coach - Arsène Wenger FRA 22/10/1949 66 - - - 2 - - - 172 - 230 - 6 Arsenal FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Wednesday 19 October 2016 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Arsenal Stadium, London PFC Ludogorets 1945 Current season All-time UCLQ UCL League UCL UEFA No.