Hannover forge on against Club Brugge

The most inexperienced side in the UEFA Europa League, Hannover 96 will look to continue their learning curve as they take on Christoph Daum's Club Brugge KV in the round of 32.

Previous meetings
• The sides have been paired for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Hannover lost 2-0 and drew 0-0 against R. Standard de Liège in their first games against Belgian opponents in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Club Brugge's record in 23 games against German sides is W8 D5 L10 (W0 D3 L8 in Germany).

Match background
• Hannover are yet to lose a home game in UEFA competition; their record in five Hannover Arena fixtures is three wins and two draws.

• Hannover are competing in UEFA competition for only the second time in their history, and this is the first time they have played in a post-Christmas club competition fixture. Their previous campaign, in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, ended in a 4-3 aggregate defeat by SV Werder Bremen in the first round.

• Club Brugge's record in ten UEFA Europa League games this season is W5 D3 L2 (W2 D2 L1 away).

• The Belgian side are competing in the round of 32 for the third time since the advent of the UEFA Cup group stage in 2004/05; they lost to AS Roma in 2005/06 (1-2 home, 1-2 away) and Valencia CF in 2009/10 (1-0 home, 0-3 away).

Team facts
• Club Brugge's German coach Christoph Daum, who replaced Adrie Koster on 9 November, has won domestic titles with VfB Stuttgart, Beşiktaş JK, FK Austria Wien and Fenerbahçe SK. He had been out of work since leaving Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2011, having been unable to stave off relegation.

• Daum has coached six times against Hannover, with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Eintracht, Stuttgart and 1. FC Köln, with the record W4 D1 L1; that lone defeat came in the most recent fixture when he was boss at Köln, a 2-1 loss on April 2009.

• Fredrik Stenman played in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen from 2006 to 2007; he started in a 2-2 draw at Hannover on 13 May 2006. While at Leverkusen, he played alongside Hannover's Moroccan defender Karim Haggui.

• Club Brugge's Tom Høgli will be up against Norway team-mates Mohammed Abdellaoue and Henning Hauger. Abdellaoue and Høgli came up against the latter's club-mate Niki Zimling when Norway lost 2-0 to Denmark in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying on 6 September 2011.

• Club Brugge's Vadis Odjidja also played in Germany with Hamburger SV from January 2008 to January 2009, though he made just two substitute appearances in the Bundesliga.

• Hannover's Mirko Slomka led the club he had previously served as a player and assistant coach into Europe to a fourth-placed Bundesliga finish in his first season in charge.

• Slomka was assistant coach at Schalke in 2004/05 when Club Brugge sporting director Sven Vermant was playing for the Gelsenkirchen club.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will take on Wisła Kraków or Club Brugge's Belgian league rivals R. Standard de Liège in the round of 16 on 8 and 15 March, playing the second leg at home.

• Hannover have never met Wisła but took on Standard in this season's group stage, drawing 0-0 in Germany and losing 2-0 in Belgium.

• Club Brugge are yet to meet Standard in Europe, but took on Wisła in the first round of the 1978/79 European Champion Clubs' Cup, winning 2-1 in Bruges but losing out with a 3-1 defeat in Poland.

Competition statistics
• An updated version of the UEFA Europa League Statistics Handbook is available here:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=1750416.html