Inter start title defence at Twente

FC Internazionale Milano's goal this term is to become the first team to successfully defend the European Champion Clubs' Cup since their neighbours AC Milan in 1990 – and their quest starts in Enschede, home of Group A rivals FC Twente.

• Inter ended a 45-year wait to reconquer Europe by beating FC Bayern München in last season's final in Madrid on 22 May. José Mourinho promptly departed for Real Madrid CF but in new coach Rafael Benítez, Inter have a man who won the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool FC in 2005 and reached the final again two years later.

• Twente are newcomers to European football's elite. This is the first group stage campaign for the Dutch champions who also have a new coach in Michel Preud'homme.

Match background
• The clubs have never met before and this is only the second time Twente have faced Italian opposition but they have good memories of the first, having beaten Juventus home and away in the 1974/75 UEFA Cup semi-finals. They lost 5-1 on aggregate to VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final.

• Inter last played Eredivisie opponents when recording home and away victories against PSV Eindhoven in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage. The Nerazzurri are undefeated on their last five visits to the Netherlands and their overall record away to Dutch sides is W2 D4 L2.

• Last season, Twente lost to Sporting Clube de Portugal in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and entered the UEFA Europa League, reaching the round of 32 where they went down to SV Werder Bremen. Their record in six European home games last term was W3 D2 L1.

• In last season's UEFA Champions League, Inter won three, drew one and lost two of their away games, both defeats coming at FC Barcelona.

• Inter's biggest match against Dutch opposition was the 1971/72 European Cup final against AFC Ajax in Rotterdam which they lost 2-0, thanks to two goals by Johan Cruyff.

• Inter have already played one game in UEFA competition this season – losing 2-0 to Club Atlético de Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.

Team ties
• Twente coach Preud'homme last encountered Italian opposition as coach of Belgian side KAA Gent, suffering a 7-1 home reverse by AS Roma in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round last year – a result that completed a 10-2 aggregate defeat.

• As a player, Preud'homme had mixed fortunes against Serie A clubs. With KV Mechelen he won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final against Atalanta BC in 1988, but lost to UC Sampdoria at the same stage of that competition in 1989. He was later in the SL Benfica side that went down to Milan in the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

• Inter coach Benítez has never lost against Dutch opposition in the UEFA Champions League. During his time at Liverpool he recorded five wins and a draw against PSV. He previously oversaw two draws against Ajax with Valencia CF.

• Wesley Sneijder found the net at the FC Twente Stadion last September, scoring for the Netherlands in a 3-0 victory against Japan.

• Sneijder and Twente's Sander Boschker were members of the Netherlands squad that reached the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. Sneijder, an Ajax player from 2002 to 2007, spent a year alongside Boschker in Amsterdam, although the goalkeeper did not make a single appearance during that 2003/04 campaign – his only season outside Enschede.

• Cristian Chivu also played for Ajax, from 1999 to 2003. He scored a penalty in a 5-1 win against Twente in Amsterdam on 17 December 2000 and again on 25 May 2003 as Ajax won 2-1 away.