Real Madrid have won all four of their games against Marseille in European competition. If they win this match, Marseille will be the opponent they have beaten the most times in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League while maintaining a 100 percent record (also 4/4 v APOEL Nicosia and Zürich).

Only against FC Porto (5) have Marseille suffered more defeats in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League than they have against Real Madrid (4). Indeed, Los Blancos are the opponent they’ve faced most often across the two competitions while losing every time (4/4).

This will be the 27th time that Real Madrid have begun a European Cup/UEFA Champions League campaign with a home match, while they’ve only been beaten on one of the previous 26 occasions (W23 D2): a 3-2 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk in 2020-21.

Marseille have faced Real Madrid in their opening game of a UEFA Champions League game once previously, doing so in September 2003 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Didier Drogba opened the scoring for the French side on that occasion, but they would go on to lose 4-2.

No French team has ever won away to Real Madrid in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League. In 15 previous attempts, they have lost 11 of them (D4) and failed to keep a clean sheet on every occasion (42 goals conceded, at an average of 2.8 per game).

Xabi Alonso will become the third individual to have both managed and played for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League since 1992-93 (47 apps), after Zinedine Zidane (45 apps, 53 games as manager) and Santiago Solari (48 apps, five games as manager).

Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi took charge of six UEFA Champions League matches in 2021-22 in the group stage with Shakhtar Donetsk, failing to win any of those games (D2 L4). They only scored two goals and conceded 12 times.

Kylian Mbappé scored seven goals for Real Madrid in this competition last season; the joint-most by a player in their first European Cup/UEFA Champions League campaign for Real Madrid, along with Cristiano Ronaldo (2009-10) and Justo Tejada (1961-62).

Among players with 5+ appearances against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has the best minutes per goal ratio against them in the competition (92 – five goals in six appearances). He is also the only player to score in four consecutive Champions League appearances against them, which remains a current streak.

Franco Mastantuono could become the youngest ever Real Madrid player to start in a UEFA Champions League game (18y 33d), as well as the second youngest Argentinean to start in the competition, after Lionel Messi in December 2004 (17y 166d v Shakhtar Donetsk).