Madrid and Bayern renew rivalry

Two true heavyweights of European football, Real Madrid CF and FC Bayern München, go head-to-head in the first knockout round, the sixth time they have been paired together in the UEFA Champions League since the 1999/00 campaign.

• The Spanish giants, nine-times European champions, have prevailed on the last two occasions the teams have met, ending Bayern's hopes in 2001/02 and 2003/04. Having missed out on their quest for a ninth UEFA Champions League quarter-final in each of the past two seasons, Madrid will be anxious to continue their recent supremacy over the German champions.

• However, Madrid have suffered their heaviest home and away defeats in the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Bayern, losing 4-2 at the Santiago Bernabéu and 4-1 in Germany in the 1999/00 second group stage. Iván Helguera scored for Madrid in the away game, Raúl González in the home leg, while Mehmet Scholl was on target in both games for Bayern. Madrid went on to exact swift revenge that season though, removing their German opponents in the semi-final on their way to a second UEFA Champions League crown.

• In the seven knockout ties between the teams, Madrid have prevailed on four occasions while Bayern, who this season are seeking a fifth continental crown, came out on top overall on the only occasion they have been paired together in the same group. In the 2001/02 quarter-final, Helguera and Guti scored to give Madrid an aggregate victory after a 2-0 home win. That came after Claudio Pizarro had scored to give the Bavarian side the edge in the first game that ended 2-1. In the 2003/04 first knockout round it was Zinédine Zidane's goal in the second leg that sent the Spanish side through after Roy Makaay and Roberto Carlos had found the net to leave the first game all square.

• Madrid have contested three European finals against German sides and have come out on top each time. They were the 1959/60 European Champions Clubs' Cup which brought them a 7-3 success against Eintracht Frankfurt, the 1985/86 UEFA Cup against 1. FC Köln which they won 5-3 on aggregate and the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League, a 2-1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

• Bayern have twice played European finals against Spanish sides and also boast a 100 per cent record. They lifted the 1973/74 European Cup after a 5-1 aggregate win over Club Atlético de Madrid and won on penalties against Valencia CF in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League.

• Madrid have only lost twice at home in 20 matches against German opposition, with both defeats inflicted by Bayern. The first was that 4-2 reverse in 1999/00, the second was a 1-0 semi-final loss as Bayern won through to the 2001 final.

• In this season's opening phase, Madrid finished second in Group E with eleven points, winning two of their three home games with the other finishing as a draw. With 14 goals in their six games, Fabio Capello's team are the competition's leading scorers, Ruud van Nistelrooy accounting for four of them.

• Last season, staging the first leg of the first knockout round game did not work in Madrid's favour as they lost 1-0 to Arsenal FC and were unable to make up the deficit in the away game. In the previous campaign at the same stage they won their home leg against Juventus through Helguera's header but succumbed 2-0 away after extra time.

• Bayern, winners of Group B with 12 points and victorious in two of their three away games, also made their departure at this stage 12 months ago. After drawing 1-1 at home to AC Milan they then suffered a 4-1 defeat in Italy to scupper their attempt to reach a seventh quarter-final in nine campaigns.

• Bayern, who have not won on their last three visits to Spain, will hope to achieve a positive result before the second leg is staged at the Fußball Arena München on Wednesday 7 March.