Ter Stegen heads home as Gladbach host Barça

VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach face another daunting Group C assignment when they face FC Barcelona for the first time on matchday two.

• André Schubert's men opened their group stage programme with a 4-0 defeat at Manchester City and must now seek an improved result against a visiting Barcelona side who overwhelmed Celtic FC 7-0 in their first fixture.

• The match marks a homecoming for Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen who began his career with Gladbach.

Match background

Borussia Mönchengladbach
• Gladbach had mixed fortunes at home in last season's UEFA Champions League, losing to Manchester City FC (1-2), drawing with Juventus (1-1) and beating Sevilla FC (4-2). The victory over Sevilla was their first home win over Spanish opposition for 30 years.

• Gladbach had previously lost to Sevilla in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (2-4 aggregate). They went down 3-2 in the home leg, where Thorgan Hazard scored one of the goals against a Sevilla side containing Aleix Vidal.

• The Foals' overall home record against Spanish clubs is W3 D2 L2.

Barcelona
• Barcelona lost just one of five matches on the road in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League (W2 D2 L1).

• In last year's group stage Barcelona collected four points against Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen. They earned a 2-1 comeback victory at home – Sergi Roberto and Luis Suárez scoring – then drew 1-1 in Germany with Lionel Messi on target. Christoph Kramer was in the Leverkusen side.

• Barcelona have won only one of their last six matches against Bundesliga opposition in Germany. However, they did beat Juventus in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final in Berlin.

• The Spanish side's overall record away against German teams is W9 D11 L7.

Coach and player links
• Luis Enrique played for Spain against Germany in a 1-1 draw at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. As a Barcelona player he struck in a 2-0 home win over Borussia Dortmund in the two-legged 1997 UEFA Super Cup (aggregate 3-1).

• Luis Enrique found the net again in a 1-1 draw at Hertha BSC Berlin in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second group stage, and in both matches when Barcelona traded 2-1 home wins with Leverkusen in the 2001/02 first group stage.

• Ter Stegen was born in Monchengladbach and made 108 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia's first team between 2011 and 2014.

• Paco Alcácer struck a hat-trick past Yann Sommer in Valencia CF's 5-0 victory over the Swiss goalkeeper's FC Basel 1893 side in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals – a result that overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit. Jérémy Mathieu was also in that Valencia side.

• Ivan Rakitić was in the Basel senior squad between 2005 and 2007 but never played a first-team game with Sommer, who had yet to step up from the reserves.

• Rakitić played for FC Schalke 04 from 2007 to 2011 and faced Gladbach four times (W2 D1 L1). He lost 1-0 on his only visit to Monchengladbach in November 2009 but made amends by scoring twice in a 3-1 home win in April 2010.

• Kramer was in the Germany side that beat Messi and Javier Mascherano's Argentina 1-0 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final.

• Messi scored for Argentina in a 4-0 victory over Fabian Johnson's USA in the semi-final of the 2016 Copa América.

• Oscar Wendt helped FC København earn a 1-1 home draw with Barcelona in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Álvaro Domínguez faced Barcelona twice (W1 D1) while at Club Atlético de Madrid (2008–12).

• Have played together:
Álvaro Domínguez & Arda Turan (Club Atlético de Madrid, 2011–12)
Christoph Kramer & Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany)

Match facts

Mönchengladbach
• Gladbach recorded their 11th consecutive home victory in all competitions by defeating FC Ingolstadt 04 2-0 on Saturday. 

• Hazard and Raffael scored doubles in the 4-1 triumph over SV Werder Bremen on 17 September.

• Four days later, Johnson's first goal for club or country since 28 February earned Gladbach a 1-1 draw at RB Leipzig.

• The fixture in Leipzig marked the first anniversary of Schubert's appointment. His average of 1.9 points per game from his 33 Bundesliga matches during that period is the best record of any Mönchengladbach coach.

• Raffael (out since 17 September, adductor strain) has sat out the last two games.

• Tobias Strobl sustained a hamstring injury against Leipzig and missed the visit of Ingolstadt.

• Patrick Herrmann, an unused substitute on Saturday, has not played since 10 September because of an adductor problem.

Barcelona
• Barcelona have scored 18 goals in four games since losing 2-1 at home to Deportivo Alavés on 10 September.

• The Blaugrana drew for the first time in 19 matches when they were held 1-1 by Atlético Madrid on 21 September.

• Messi was ruled out for three weeks after sustaining a groin injury against Atlético.

• In his absence, Barcelona scored five goals without reply at Real Sporting de Gijón on Saturday, three of them coming after the 74th-minute dismissal of the hosts' captain Alberto Lora.