Gent v Genk facts

It is Belgium v Belgium in the UEFA Europa League round of 16, with Gent welcoming fellow high scorers Genk in the first leg.

Previous meetings
• Gent v Genk is only the second all-Belgian tie in UEFA competition history; Mechelen defeated Anderlecht 3-0 on aggregate in the other, a 1988/89 European Cup Winners' Cup second round encounter.

• Genk's record against Gent in Belgian league meetings is W27 D10 L19. The clubs recorded a win each in their two Belgian Cup fixtures.

Form guide
• Prior to their 1-0 first-leg victory against Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 32, Gent had scored at least twice in all five of their European home games this season.

• Genk, meanwhile, have scored at least two goals in each of their last six continental away matches.

Gent made it to last season's Champions League last 16©AFP/Getty Images

• Gent made it to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 last season, losing to Wolfsburg. Their best UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League campaign came in 1991/92, when they were eliminated by Ajax in the quarter-finals.

• Genk have reached the last 16 of a major UEFA competition for the first time, winning their first springtime UEFA match in the round of 32 second leg against Astra Giurgiu.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Genk to Ghent is around 125km.

• Former team-mates
Daniel Miličević (Gent) & Sebastien Dewaest (Genk) – Charleroi, 2013–14
Kalifa Coulibaly (Gent) & Sebastien Dewaest (Genk) – Charleroi, 2014–15
Lovre Kalinić (Gent) & Tino-Sven Sušić (Genk) – Hajduk Split, 2012–16

• In addition, Gent's Miličević and Genk's Sušić are international team-mates with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Genk came through qualifying this season©AFP

• Genk are the only side to have made it from the second qualifying round of this season's competition to the round of 16; APOEL and København have had similarly long campaigns, having started out in the equivalent round of the UEFA Champions League.

• Two of 12 Swedish players involved in the round of 16, Gent's Jacob Rinne and Emir Kujovic are dreaming of playing in the UEFA Europa League final in Stockholm.

• Belgium, with three clubs, is the nation most heavily represented in the round of 16. Only Germany and Russia, with two apiece, also have more than one representative.

The coaches
• Hein Vanhaezebrouck guided Gent to the Belgian title in 2014/15 and steered them to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 last season. He established his reputation during two periods in the dugout of home-town club Kortrijk, for whom he had also played.

• Vanhaezebrouck was also coach of Genk from July to November 2009.

• Peter Maes took Genk to the round of 32 but was dismissed in late December after a disappointing run of league results.

Genk coach Albert Stuivenberg©Sportsfile

• Genk's new boss is Albert Stuivenberg. Once a Feyenoord trainee, he later ran the club's academy, and led the Netherlands to UEFA European Under-17 Championship successes in 2011 and 2012. He was Louis van Gaal's assistant at Manchester United.