Atlético eager to keep Beşiktaş out

Club Atlético de Madrid will look to deny Beşiktaş JK a first win on Spanish soil as Turkey's only survivors in this season's club competitions visit in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Atlético's record in ten games against Turkish sides is W6 D3 L1 (W2 D3 L0 at home). They beat Beşiktaş's Istanbul rivals Galatasaray AŞ in the round of 32 en route to winning the inaugural UEFA Europa League in 2009/10.

• Atlético's lone defeat by Süper Lig opposition was a 1-0 loss at MKE Ankaragücü in the second leg of a 1999/2000 UEFA Cup first round tie. They had already won the first leg 3-0.

• Beşiktaş's 14 games against Spanish sides have ended W3 D3 L8 (W0 D1 L6 away). They have avoided defeat only once in Spain, when they held Deportivo Alavés to a 1-1 draw in the second round of the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, winning the tie with a 1-0 home win in the return leg.

Match background
• Atlético have won their last six European home games, since losing 3-2 to Aris Thessaloniki FC in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Atlético were last in the round of 16 in 2010; they beat Sporting Clube de Portugal, Valencia CF and then Liverpool FC to reach the final, which they won 2-1 against Fulham FC in Hamburg.

• Beşiktaş previously reached the last 16 of this competition in 2002/03, beating SK Slavia Praha en route to a quarter-final loss to S.S. Lazio.

• Beşiktaş have won their last two continental fixtures on the road, a run which follows four straight away defeats in Europe.

Team facts
• Atlético's Falcao has scored five UEFA Europa League goals this season; two fewer than top scorer Matías Suárez and one short of FC Schalke 04's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – the highest scorer remaining in the competition. The Colombian set a new record with 17 goals in last season's UEFA Europa League for FC Porto.

• Beşiktaş's Manuel Fernandes and FC Metalist Kharkiv's José Ernesto Sosa have provided five assists each in this season's UEFA Europa League – more than any other player in the competition.

• Five of Beşiktaş's 15 UEFA Europa League goals this season have come in the first 15 minutes after the break.

• Beşiktaş's attacking midfielder Simão knows Atlético well, having scored 20 goals in 113 Liga games for the club between 2007 and 2010. On 12 April 2009, he scored the club's 4,000th league goal. He previously played for FC Barcelona from 1999 to 2001.

• Rüştü Reçber (Barcelona 2003-04), Mehmet Aurélio (Real Betis Balompié 2008-10), Fernandes (Valencia CF 2007-11) and Ricardo Quaresma (Barcelona 2003-04) also have Spanish league experience.

• Beşiktaş's Portuguese midfielder Júlio Alves moved to the club from Atlético, where he spent just a month after joining from Rio Ave FC in the summer.

• Atlético boast Turkish talent in the form of Arda Turan, who played for Galatasaray AŞ from 2004 to 2011. He scored once in nine Turkish games against Beşiktaş, with those matches ending W4 D1 L4.

• Atlético's Diego and Beşiktaş's Hugo Almeida played up front together at SV Werder Bremen from 2006 to 2009.

• Atlético midfielder Paulo Assunção played at Porto alongside Beşiktaş's Quaresma from 2004 to 2008, and Almeida from 2004 to 2006.

• Beşiktaş defender Sidnei and Atlético forward Eduardo Salvio played together at SL Benfica in 2010/11.

• Atlético midfielder Tiago and Beşiktaş counterpart Fernandes were team-mates at Benfica in 2003/04.

• Diego Simeone replaced Gregorio Manzano as Atlético coach on 23 December. The former Argentina midfielder had two spells at the club as a player, winning a domestic double in 1995/96. He won the 1997/98 UEFA Cup with Inter and is coaching in Europe for a second time, having helped Calcio Catania avoid relegation from Serie A in 2010/11.

• Beşiktaş' Portuguese coach Carlos Carvalhal was once a defender for SC Braga and Porto among others. In 2009/10 he coached Sporting before coming to Istanbul in 2011.

• Carvalhal came up against Atlético as Sporting coach in the round of 16 two seasons ago. His side went out on away goals as the Spanish team went on to lift the trophy.

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