Bremen primed for Ajax exam

A fantastic record against German sides will be of some comfort to AFC Ajax as they face Bundesliga powerhouses Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

• Bremen qualified for the Round of 32 as the third-placed side in UEFA Champions League Group A. Ajax finished second in UEFA Cup Group F.

• The two sides have never met in European competition.

• Bremen have been drawn against Dutch opposition on three previous occasions, losing all three ties and managing no wins and just two draws in six games.

• Ajax have been drawn against German opposition on 13 previous occasions (winning 12 and losing one) as well as taking on FC Bayern München twice in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage. In total, their record against German opposition reads won 18, drawn five lost four.

• The most prominent of those previous meetings saw Ajax beat VfB Leipzig 1-0 in the 1986/87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.

• Bremen’s Finnish defender Petri Pasanen will be familiar to many of Ajax's players having won two titles and a Dutch Cup in four seasons in Amsterdam. He spent the latter part of the 2003/04 season on loan at English side Portsmouth FC before joining Bremen in the summer of 2004.

• Bremen's Danish midfielder Daniel Jensen has plenty of experience of Dutch football having played for Ajax's Eredivisie rivals SC Heerenveen between 1998 and 2003.

• The second leg will be played on 22 February. The aggregate winners will face FC Spartak Moskva or RC Celta de Vigo in the Round of 16, playing away on 8 March before staging the return a week later.