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Schalke look to bounce back in Barcelona

FC Schalke 04 have it all to do in the return leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against FC Barcelona at Camp Nou and history is not on their side.

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka
Schalke coach Mirko Slomka ©Getty Images

FC Schalke 04 have it all to do in the return leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against FC Barcelona at Camp Nou. The Bundesliga side go into the game with a 1-0 deficit to overturn following their 1 April home defeat and history is not on their side.

• To put the size of their task into context, Barcelona have only lost two of the previous 34 European ties where they have returned to Spain with a first-leg lead.

• Those two exceptions to the rule came in the 1980/01 UEFA Cup, when another German club, 1. FC Köln, won 4-0 at Camp Nou (Agg: 4-1) and the 1984/85 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup when France's FC Metz won 4-1 (Agg: 6-5).

• For Schalke, by comparison, this is new territory in more ways than one. As well as their first visit to Barcelona's home stadium, it is also the first time they have travelled away needing to undo the damage of a first-leg home defeat in European competition.

• Barcelona are favourites to progress thanks to a 12th-minute Bojan Krkić goal that earned Frank Rijkaard's men a narrow victory in Gelsenkirchen.

• The teams for the first leg were:
Schalke: Manuel Neuer, Rafinha, Marcelo Bordon, Mladen Krstajić, Heiko Westermann, Gerald Asamoah (Søren Larsen, 73), Fabian Ernst, Levan Kobiashvili, Christian Pander, Kevin Kuranyi (Vicente Sánchez, 60), Halil Altıntop (Peter Løvenkrands, 89).
Barcelona: Victor Valdés, Gianluca Zambrotta, Carles Puyol. Gabriel Milito, Eric Abidal, Xavi Hernández, Yaya Touré (Rafael Márquez, 73), Andrés Iniesta, Bojan Krkić (Sylvinho, 86), Samuel Eto'o (Giovani 82), Thierry Henry.

• Barcelona remain one of two sides still unbeaten in this UEFA Champions League campaign, together with Manchester United FC. They reached the knockout rounds by topping Group E with four wins and two draws and then overcame Celtic FC in the last 16, winning 3-2 in Glasgow and 1-0 at home.

• Schalke reached the last eight by defeating FC Porto on penalties in the first knockout round. After winning 1-0 at home, Mirko Slomka's side went down 1-0 in Portugal before prevailing 4-1 on spot-kicks. They had previously finished second in Group B behind Chelsea FC, with a record of W2 D2 L2 – the lowest points haul (eight) of the 16 teams that advanced.

• Barcelona's home record against German clubs is W14 D1 L5. Their most recent victory was a 3-1 success against VfB Stuttgart in this season's group stage. The last visitors from the Bundesliga to prevail at Camp Nou, meanwhile, were FC Bayern München, 2-1 winners in a UEFA Champions League group stage game in the 1998/99 campaign.

• Barcelona's record in two-legged knockout ties against German teams is nine wins and four losses.

• The most recent knockout tie was against BV Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Super Cup when Barcelona, then UEFA Cup Winners' Cup holders, beat the reigning European champions 2-0 at home in January 1998 before drawing 1-1 at the Westfalenstadion two months later.

• Barcelona also beat Werder Bremen 3-2 on aggregate to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time in 1992/93 and lifted the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1979 after a 4-3 final victory against another German team, TSV Fortuna Düsseldorf.

• Schalke's away record against Spanish clubs is W2 D2 L3. Their most recent visit brought a goalless draw at Valencia CF in the group stage in November.

• The Gelsenkirchen club may be playing at Camp Nou for the first time but they recorded a notable 3-0 success on their one previous visit to Barcelona to face RCD Espanyol. Kevin Kuranyi, Ebbe Sand and Lincoln scored the goals in the first leg of a UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie that the Bundesliga team eventually won 5-1 on aggregate.

• Schalke's most famous victory against Spanish rivals came in the semi-final of their triumphant 1996/97 UEFA Cup campaign where they overturned a 1-0 first-leg loss to CD Tenerife with a 2-0 home success, Thomas Linke and Marc Wilmots getting the goals. Schalke went on to defeat FC Internazionale Milano in the final, winning on penalties after the two-legged final had finished 1-1 on aggregate.

• Overall, Schalke have won three and lost two of their five previous two-legged contests against sides from Spain. Their most recent opponents were Sevilla FC in a 2005/06 UEFA Cup semi-final that Schalke lost 1-0 on aggregate. After a goalless draw at home, the Bundesliga team lost the return against the eventual champions to an extra-time goal from Antonio Puerta.

• Schalke's last European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final appearance was in 1958/59 and then as now, their opponents were Spanish. They will hope for better luck this time having gone down 4-1 on aggregate to Club Atlético de Madrid that season.

• Barcelona have considerably more experience of competing at this stage of the European Cup. This is their tenth quarter-final overall and they have fared well down the years, recording seven wins and only two defeats.

• The Catalan club also advanced to the final in both 1991/92 and 1993/94, seasons when there was no quarter-final due to the changes in the competition's format.

• As coach of the Netherlands, Rijkaard twice faced Germany in friendly games, winning one and drawing one. As a Dutch international, he featured against Germany five times during his playing days, winning two matches, drawing two and losing one.

• In his club career, Rijkaard struck against German opposition on his first appearance in UEFA competition, scoring in a 2-1 victory for AFC Ajax against FC Bayern München in the European Cup on 5 November 1980, although the Dutch side had lost the first leg of their second-round tie 5-1. His overall record against German sides with both Ajax and AC Milan was five wins, two draws and one defeat.

• Barcelona striker Eto'o scored the 66th-minute winner when his former club RCD Mallorca beat Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen in the UEFA Champions League first group stage in September 2001. The following month, he was in the Mallorca team defeated 4-0 at home in the return fixture.

• Schalke forward Løvenkrands found the net in both legs of former club Rangers FC's 3-3 aggregate draw with Spanish side Villarreal CF in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League first knockout round – but his team were eliminated on goal difference.

• Barcelona's record in penalty shoot-outs in Europe is:
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Club Champions' Cup semi-final
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucuresti, 1985/86 European Cup final
5-4 v Lech Poznań, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round

• Schalke's record reads:
4-1 v FC Internazionale Milano, 1996/97 UEFA Cup final
4-5 v SK Slavia Praha, 1998/99 UEFA Cup first round
1-3 v Brøndby IF, 2003/04 UEFA Cup second round