Gronkjær faces Atlético demons

Jesper Gronkjær will be up against one of his old clubs as FC København and Club Atlético de Madrid seek wins to seal a qualifying place in Group B.

• København midfielder Gronkjær may feel he has a point to prove as he faces Atlético, who he played for during the 2004/05 season, making 16 league appearances without scoring before moving on to VfB Stuttgart.

• Third in the section with four points, København know a win will seal a place in the last 32 and take the pressure off for their Matchday 5 trip to Aberdeen FC.

• Victory for Atlético would seal their place in the last 32 regardless of the result of their final game against Panathinaikos FC.

• The two sides have never met in UEFA club competition in their current forms, but Kjøbenhavens BK – who merged with B 1903 København to form FC København in 1992 – played Atlético in the first round of the 1974/75 UEFA Cup.

• Goals from Niels Sørensen and Niels Christian Holmstrøm in the first leg in Denmark were cancelled out by efforts from Ruben Ayala and Ignacio Salcedo for Atlético before Henrik Bernburg scored the winner in a match which also saw current Spain coach Luis Aragonés make a cameo appearance.

• However, Atlético showed no mercy in the second leg, with strikes from Eugenio Leal and José Gárate either side of two from Javier Iruretagoyena sealing a 4-0 victory.

• Those games represent Atlético's only previous experience of Danish opposition.

• B 1903 – the side that merged with Kjøbenhavens to form København – also played two games against a Spanish side, losing out to Valencia CF in the first round of the 1979/80 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, drawing 2-2 at home and losing 4-0 in Spain.

• In their current guise, København have played four games against sides from Spain in UEFA club competition, drawing two and losing the other two. They are thus looking for a first win against a Primera División side as Atlético come calling.

• Their previous home ties against Spanish sides ended in a draw and a defeat and they are yet to keep a clean sheet in any game against a Primera División side – a feat which neither of their predecessor clubs managed either.

• Atlético defender Giourkas Seitaridis was ruled out for six weeks in mid-November after undergoing surgery on an achilles tendon injury.

• Panathinaikos are at home against FC Lokomotiv Moskva in Wednesday's other Group B game.