Schalke on their guard as Valencia visit

The last time FC Schalke 04 played at home in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds it resulted in a 1-0 defeat by FC Barcelona. As they square up to Valencia CF in the return leg of their round of 16 tie, the hosts will be hoping for a more positive outcome.

• The German side hold a slight edge after the first leg at Mestalla on 15 February, Raúl González (64) cancelling out Roberto Soldado's 17th-minute opener to earn Schalke a valuable away draw.

Previous meetings
• The sides' two previous games in Gelsenkirchen ended in a win apiece. Valencia triumphed 1-0 in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage with a second-half David Villa goal while ten years previously, in the UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg, Schalke's 2-0 home win sent them through.

• The full lineups for the 18 September 2007 game at Arena AufSchalke were:
Schalke: Neuer, Westermann, Bordon, Rafinha (Grossmüller 73), Pander, Ernst, Rakitić, Jones, Asamoah (Özil 61), Halil Altıntop (Lovenkrands 73), Kuranyi.
Valencia: Cañizares, Albiol, Marchena, Helguera, Miguel, Moretti, Albelda, Silva, Villa (Sunny 90), Morientes (Arizmendi 80), Angulo (Joaquín 75).

• The 2007 win is Valencia's only victory in ten visits to Germany; their other nine games have produced seven defeats and two draws. A 7-0 reverse at Karlsruher SC in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup second round remains Valencia's heaviest defeat in UEFA competition.

• Valencia were beaten by FC Bayern München in the 2001 UEFA Champions League final, losing a penalty shoot-out at San Siro after a 1-1 draw.

Match background
• Schalke won all three home games in Group B, seeing off SL Benfica 2-0, Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC 3-1 and Olympique Lyonnais 3-0.

• Their only previous knockout experience in the UEFA Champions League came in 2007/08 when they beat FC Porto 4-1 on penalties after both legs ended 1-0 to the home side. They then lost both legs of their quarter-final against Barcelona 1-0.

• Unai Emery's Valencia remained unbeaten away from home in Group C, beginning with a 4-0 win at Bursaspor before drawing 1-1 at both Rangers FC and Manchester United FC.

• When Valencia were last at this stage in 2006/07 they beat FC Internazionale Milano on away goals with a 2-2 draw in Italy and a goalless home tie. They then drew 1-1 at Chelsea FC in the quarter-final first leg but lost 2-1 at home.

• Schalke have won six of the eight UEFA competition ties in which they earned a first-leg draw away from home, although the most recent example – in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup round of 32 – a 1-1 draw at FC Shakhtar Donetsk was followed by a 1-0 home loss.

• Valencia have won four of the eight UEFA competition ties in which they drew the first leg at home. In last season's UEFA Europa League they drew 1-1 at home to SV Werder Bremen in the round of 16 first leg before a 4-4 draw in Germany took them through on away goals. In the quarter-finals, however, eventual winners Club Atlético de Madrid earned a 2-2 draw at Mestalla, knocking out Valencia thanks to a goalless return.

• Schalke have been involved in four penalty shoot-outs in UEFA competition, losing two. They won the 1996/97 UEFA Cup final by defeating FC Internazionale Milano 4-1 on spot kicks before that Porto success.

• That Bayern defeat in the 2001 UEFA Champions League final was one of two losses Valencia have suffered from four shoot-outs in UEFA competition. They overcame Arsenal FC to win the 1980 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final on spot kicks.

Team ties
• Ricardo Costa played for VfL Wolfsburg from 2007 to 2010, working under current Schalke coach Felix Magath until 2009. Costa's team won 2-1 in Gelsenkirchen in 2007/08 when Manuel Neuer was on the opposite side.

• The following season – which ended with Costa celebrating Wolfsburg's championship triumph – the Gelsenkirchen fixture ended 2-2.

• In the semi-final of UEFA EURO 2008 Christoph Metzelder's Germany beat Mehmet Topal's Turkey 3-2 in Basle.

• José Manuel Jurado was part of the Atlético side that overcame Valencia in last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. He also played for RCD Mallorca (2008/09) and Real Madrid CF (2002 to 2006).

• Before joining Schalke last summer, Rául had spent his entire senior career with Real Madrid. He scored in their 3-0 defeat of Valencia in the UEFA Champions League final in May 2000 and in 24 league games against these opponents found the net 12 times.

• Metzelder faced Valencia three times while at Real Madrid between 2007 and 2010, winning twice and losing once.

• Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Hedwiges Maduro have appeared together for the Netherlands national team.