Serbia v Spain U21 play-off preview

• Yugoslavia and Spain met at this level in qualifying for the competition's inaugural edition, winning one match apiece before Yugoslavia went on to lift the trophy in Mostar in 1978.

• The countries also traded victories in qualifying for the 2006 tournament, this time as Serbia and Montenegro and Spain.

• The second of those most recent competitive encounters, in Madrid in September 2005, was a 2-0 victory for a Spain side including Cesc Fàbregas, Fernando Llorente and Andrés Iniesta, with Iniesta scoring both goals.

• Julen Lopetegui, who guided Spain to glory in Israel in 2013, stepped down as coach earlier this year to take over at FC Porto.

• Play-off records (ties):  Serbia – W4 L1; Spain – W4 L3

Qualifying campaigns
Serbia: W5 D1 L2 F18 A10 (Group 9 runners-up)
Spain: W7 D1 L0 F24 A6 (Group 4 winners)

• Serbia finished two points shy of Group 9 winners Italy and level with Belgium, but came second on head-to-head record thanks to a 3-0 victory in Louvain and qualified as one of the four best runners-up.

• La Rojita dropped just two points en route to the play-offs, winning all seven of their qualifiers prior to a 1-1 draw with Austria in their final game.

Coaches' view
Radovan Ćurčić, Serbia: "It's the toughest draw, but it's a big challenge for this whole generation. We're used to playing against big teams. We were in a group with Italy and Belgium, so my players are used to playing tough matches. Everyone knows Spain play a specific way, with lots of passes, and I think the key will be how we counter this."

Albert Celades: "It's very difficult for us – Serbia are a very good team and came through a tough qualifying group. Of course it would be great to retain our title, but we know how difficult it was to win it twice in a row, let alone three times. Everyone wants to beat us, but obviously that is our dream."