Fenerbahce vs. Eintracht Frankfurt Game Notes

• With 1-0 defeats by Newcastle United FC and RC Celta de Vigo either side of a 3-0 victory against US Città di Palermo, Fenerbahçe need a draw to progress to the last 32, but a loss would see them eliminated, potentially finishing bottom of the section.

• Eintracht's opening 2-1 home loss to Palermo was followed by draws against Celta and Newcastle. A win in Turkiye would see them progress to the last 32 but a draw or a defeat would not be enough.

• The side finishing top of the section is guaranteed a tie against one of the third-placed finishers from another group in the draw for the Round of 32 on 15 December, while each pool runner-up will meet one of the third-placed finishers from the UEFA Champions League.

• The two sides have never met in European competition. However, they have met in three friendly games. In 1971 Eintracht drew 1-1 with Fenerbahçe in an exhibition game in Turkiye, and the two sides met again at an indoor tournament in Berlin in January 1982, with the German side winning 2-1. More recently, Eintracht beat Fenerbahçe 3-0 in a 1997 friendly in Frankfurt.

• Frankfurt has a large Turkish community, with a recent census showing that 31,690 of the city's 657,000 inhabitants were from Turkiye.

• Eintracht coach Funkel has plenty of experience of Turkish opposition, having led his MSV Duisburg side through a two-legged UEFA Intertoto Cup tie against Kocaelispor and faced Turkish sides in three games as a player for 1. FC Kaiserslautern and FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen.

• Funkel's Duisburg won 3-0 in the away leg of their 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup tie before holding Kocaelispor to a 0-0 draw at home.

• With Uerdingen, Funkel played in a two-legged 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup tie against Galatasaray SK. His side won 2-0 at home and drew 1-1 in Turkey.

• Prior to that, Funkel scored for Kaiserslautern in a 3-0 win against Trabzonspor in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup. However, he did not play in the second leg as Kaiserslautern won 3-0 again.

• Thus, the coach goes into the game against Fenerbahçe having never tasted defeat against Turkish opposition.

• Fenerbahçe have faced German opposition eight times in the course of three two-legged European ties and two UEFA Champions League group stage games.

• They are yet to win a single game against a Bundesliga team, having drawn one and lost seven of those previous meetings.

• They earned their sole draw as they held FC Schalke 04 3-3 in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League but have lost their remaining three home games against Bundesliga sides.

• Eintracht have met Turkish opposition four times in the course of two two-legged European ties. They won 6-1 on aggregate against Sakaryspor in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round and then lost 1-0 on aggregate against Galatasaray in a 1992/93 UEFA Cup tie.

• In total, they have won twice, drawn once and lost once against Turkish sides.

• They have won one game in Turkiye and lost one.

• Palermo play Celta in Matchday 5's other Group H game.