UEFA Champions League, Matchday 3

Group C

Estádio do Dragão, Porto

FC Porto - Olympique de Marseille

- Kick-off at 21:00 CET (20:00 GMT)

Following defeats to Olympiacos and Manchester City, the impending double-header again Porto is crucial to OM's hopes of a place in the last 16 - and it just happens to pit OM boss AVB against the club he has supported since childhood and whose he coached to an undefeated 2010-11 Portuguese title - aged just 33 - before moving to Chelsea.

AVB: 'We owe it to our club'

"I am very happy to be back here in this stadium. I am connected with this club. It's very emotional; I'm living a special moment," he admitted before turning his attention to the rude business of claiming a maximum of points at the Estádio do Dragão.

"These two matches are our last two chances to qualify," he declared. "We find ourselves in this situation where we are facing Porto directly for qualification. We owe it to our club, to our supporters, we have to do something different about our state of mind and about how we play the game."

Time for big guns to fire

Luckily for AVB he has a near-full strength squad to choose from and is tipped to start all his big guns in an attack-minded 4-2-3-1 with Florian Thauvin and Dimitri Payet on either side of Morgan Sanson in an attacking midfield three behind striker Dario Benedetto, who is still looking to bag his first goal of season 20201-21.

Marseille had their Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 9 match with Lens postponed due to a preponderance of COVID-19 infections in the northern club's squad, so they should be well rested for the trip to take on a Porto side currently fourth on the Liga Nos table but with just two wins in their last six matches - including a 2-0 win over Olympiacos.

Probable teams

FC Porto: Marchesin; Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Zaidu Sanusi; Sergio Oliveira, Uribe; Corona, Otavio, Luis Diaz; Marega

Olympique de Marseille: Mandanda; Sakai, Gonzalez, Calte-Car, Amavi; Kamara, Ranger; Thauvin, Sanson, Payet; Benedetto