Rangers and Osasuna meet again

Memories of a previous UEFA Cup defeat back in 1985 may haunt Rangers FC as they welcome CA Osasuna to Ibrox in the Round of 16.

• In that first-round tie, the Glasgow club won 1-0 at home but went on to lose 2-0 in Pamplona and exit the competition at the first hurdle. Current Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist played in both legs of the tie.

• Rangers reached the Round of 32 as Group A winners. They lost 2-1 at Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in their first European game since Walter Smith's return as manager, but made amends with a 4-0 win at Ibrox to progress to the last 16. With the final of this season's UEFA Cup being held at Hampden Park in Glasgow, they have an extra incentive in wishing to progress.

• Osasuna reached the knockout phase as runners-up in Group D. After 209 goalless minutes in their Round of 32 tie against FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Javad Nekunam scored in the dying seconds of the second period of added time to take Cuco Ziganda's side through to the last 16.

• Rangers boast Spanish talent in the form of striker Nacho Novo, who has been a star performer in the UEFA Cup this term with three goals in six appearances.

• Not for the first time in this season's UEFA Cup, Osasuna striker Savo Milošević will be meeting up with an old team-mate. The Serbian played alongside Rangers's English defender Ugo Ehiogu at Aston Villa FC between 1995 and 1997. Both featured in Villa's 3-0 League Cup triumph against Leeds United AFC at Wembley in 1996, with Milošević scoring a memorable opening goal.

• Milošević is a close friend of former Rangers star Gordan Petrić, with whom he played for FK Partizan and Yugoslavia. He said: "Gordan and I are still close and we speak all the time. We will definitely speak a lot leading up to the matches and I will be asking him for information on Rangers and that's when I'll find out where his loyalties lie."

• Rangers captain Barry Ferguson will equal John Greig's club record of 64 appearances in European competition if he plays in the first leg.

• Rangers have met Spanish opposition in six previous European knockout competition ties, and were also pooled with Valencia CF in the UEFA Champions League group stage. They have not won a knockout tie against a Spanish side since they met Sevilla FC in the 1962/63 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, winning 4-0 at Ibrox and progressing despite a 2-0 defeat in Spain.

• Notable among their Spanish disappointments was a 1966/67 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final against Real Zaragoza. After the two sides traded 2-0 wins in the two-leg tie, the Spanish side won a semi-final place on the toss of a coin.

• Rangers last win in an individual game against Spanish opposition came in the first leg of their meeting with Osasuna back in September 1985. Thus they are looking to end a wait of almost 22 years for a win against a Primera División side. Victory is all the more important as they have never won a game in Spain.

• In total, out of 14 games against Spanish sides, they have won three, drawn three and lost eight.

• The 1985 meeting with Rangers represents Osasuna's only previous experience of Scottish opposition.

• The second leg will be played in Pamplona on 14 March. The overall winners will enter the draw for the final rounds in Glasgow on Friday 16 March. No teams will be seeded in the draw and, for the first time in this season's competition, teams from the same national association may be drawn against each other.

• Rangers are the only Scottish team remaining, but there are four from Spain - Osasuna, RC Celta de Vigo, RCD Espanyol and Sevilla.