Bristol Bears hold a slender advantage as they host Sale Sharks in the Heineken Champions Round of 16 second leg on Friday night. There was little to separate the sides in the first leg at AJ Bell Stadium, with Bristol’s Semi Radradra coming off the bench to score the game’s only try on 69 minutes as the visitors picked up a 10-9 win. Bristol will be aiming to win a fourth game in a row for the first time in the European Cup when they welcome Sale to Ashton Gate, for what is also the first knockout game they have hosted in the competition. The game kicks off at 20:00 (UK & Irish time) and will be available to watch on BT Sport, beIN SPORTS and Sky Italia. https://twitter.com/ChampionsCup/status/1513440539512913922 Other key stats:

Bristol won the 1st leg against Sale - their first encounter in the European Cup - despite scoring their lowest tally of points in an away game in the competition.
Sale have lost their last seven games against Premiership opposition in the Heineken Champions Cup, with their three away games in that run coming by an average margin of 28points.
Sale have won just two of their last 18 away matches in the Heineken Champions Cup (L16); however, their two wins during that period have both come in their last four away games, Including last season’s Round of 16 tie against Scarlets (57-14).
Bristol have averaged 14 offloads per game in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, only Stade Toulousain (17.3) have made more; they have also made 175 passes per game, the third highest average.
Sale boast the best goal kicking success rate of any team to reach the knockout stage of this season’s Heineken Champions Cup (88%) and the second best overall, behind Glasgow Warriors (90%).
Sale have averaged 7.5 dominant tackles per game in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, more than any other team; Sale and Bristol were two of the four teams to make around-high six dominant tackles last weekend (also Racing 92 and Leicester Tigers).
Bristol’s Semi Radradra has crossed the try line in each of his last two games in the Heineken Champions Cup, scoring three tries in total, after scoring once in his previous eight games in the competition.
No player has claimed more lineouts than Sale’s Lood de Jager in the Heineken Champions Cup this season (31, level with Peter O’Mahony); he claimed 11 lineouts last weekend, only two players have taken more lineouts in a game in the competition this season (William Griffiths and Rory Arnold).

Key quotes: Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam: “We’ve just got to make sure we get our tactics right and have a really good prep, and most importantly hope all our fans get there to support us. It could be a big occasion for the club.” Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson: “We intend to go deep in this competition. There’s a point in this tie, so it’s neither here nor there. We’ll go down there to win the game next week. One point doesn’t make a difference either way.”