Schalke v Maribor background

FC Schalke 04's first home fixture in Group G brings them up against NK Maribor, who are appearing in their first UEFA Champions League group stage for 15 years.

Match background

Schalke
• Appearing in their seventh UEFA Champions League group stage, they have reached the knockout rounds in each of the last four. They were eliminated in last season's round of 16 by eventual winners Real Madrid, losing 6-1 at home and 9-2 on aggregate.

• The Royal Blues, who drew 1-1 at Chelsea FC on matchday one, won two of their group home games last season and lost the other. They have won nine of their last 18 European home games with four draws and five defeats.

Maribor
• Maribor, who rescued a 1-1 draw against Sporting Clube de Portugal in their first Group G game, have not won any of their four European matches with German opponents. They scored in only one, a 2-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup second round, but did record 0-0 draws in the home leg and at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Tavares scored a 75th-minute winner at Celtic FC to secure Maribor's play-off victory and place in the competition proper. The home game had ended 1-1, Damjan Bohar on target.

• Bohar had also scored in a 1-0 home win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC in the third qualifying round. Maribor's passage was sealed with a 2-2 draw in Larnaca, Agim Ibraimi twice on target.

• An Ibraimi penalty and Dare Vršič's free-kick gave the Slovenian side a 2-0 home win over HŠK Zrinjski after a 0-0 draw away in the second qualifying round.

• In their previous group stage appearance, Maribor finished in fourth place with four points, winning 1-0 away against FC Dynamo Kyiv and drawing 0-0 at Leverkusen.

• Maribor have lost just one of their last six European away games.

Coach and player links
• Tranquillo Barnetta was sent off in Switzerland's 2-0 win over a Slovenia side containing Jasmin Handanovič and Marko Šuler in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Ljubljana on 7 September 2012; Aleš Mertelj was an unused substitute. In the return, Barnetta's Switzerland won 1-0 with Mertelj on the opposite side and Handanovič an unused substitute.

• Dudu Biton appeared as a substitute when Israel drew 0-0 with Germany, who included Benedikt Höwedes, Sidney Sam and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, in a UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier on 9 September 2008.

• Sintayehu Sallalich's Israel Under-21s lost 2-1 in a friendly against Germany, who included Christian Clemens as a substitute, on 24 March 2013.

Match facts

Schalke

• Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored his first goal of the season from open play as FC Schalke 04 took the spoils in the 145th Revierderby against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, winning 2-1.

• Schalke halted a six-game winless run – their worst start to a season since 1967/68 – on 23 September with a 3-0 victory at SV Werder Bremen. Tranquillo Barnetta was on target with only his second Bundesliga goal since December 2010.

• Atsuto Uchida made his first appearance of the season in Bremen following a knee tendon injury.

• Schalke had Julian Draxler and Kevin-Prince Boateng sent off in a 2-2 home draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on 20 September. The Royal Blues recovered from two down thanks to Choupo-Moting's penalty and a headed goal from Draxler on his 21st birthday.

• Jan Kirchhoff, who sustained a knee injury in the 1-1 draw against FC Bayern München on 30 August, is back in training. Benedikt Höwedes (hip) has not played since the 4-1 defeat at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach on 13 September.

• Fabian Giefer (adductors), Sead Kolašinac (knee), Felipe Santana (adductors), Leon Goretzka (hamstring) and Jefferson Farfán (knee) are all long-term absentees.

Maribor

• Maribor were held to a goalless draw at bottom side NK Radomlje on Saturday, with Welle Ndiaye taken off seven minutes before half-time.

• The 18-year-old Luka Zahovič, son of Slovenia's all-time top scorer Zlatko, has registered six goals in ten games.

• Both of Maribor's defeats this campaign have been in the domestic championship and by a two-goal margin.

• The Slovenian title holders are 12 matches unbeaten at home since a 2-0 loss to NK Rudar Velenje on 23 April.

• Dare Vršič scored twice in Maribor's 4-1 Slovenian Super Cup victory against ND Gorica on 13 August.