Schalke v Shakhtar Donetsk background

FC Schalke 04 will hope history does not repeat itself as they host FC Shakhtar Donetsk following a goalless UEFA Europa League round of 32 opener between the clubs.

Previous meetings
• Mircea Lucescu's Shakhtar eliminated a Schalke side coached by Ralf Rangnick in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup round of 32, winning 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen after drawing 1-1 in Donetsk. Those are Schalke's only past encounters with Ukrainian opponents.

• Shakhtar defender Olexandr Kucher was sent off late on in the first leg on 18 February.

• Shakhtar's 17 games against German teams have ended W5 D6 L6 (W2 D1 L5 in Germany). Most famously, they beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in the final of the 2009 UEFA Cup in Istanbul.

Form guide
• Schalke are unbeaten at home in Europe this season (W2 D1).

• Schalke and SSC Napoli conceded a joint low three goals during this season's group stage.

• Shakhtar lost all three of their UEFA Champions League group stage away games this season without scoring. They have scored just once in five continental away games this season.

• Schalke won the 1996/97 UEFA Cup. The nearest they have come to a second success was reaching the semi-finals in 2005/06. They progressed to the quarter-finals in their most recent attempt, in 2011/12.

• This is the third time Shakhtar have reached the round of 32 since they won this competition in 2009 – they have not made it through to the last 16 since that UEFA Cup triumph in Istanbul.

Trivia and links
• Shakhtar forward Eduardo turns 33 on the day of the game.

• Klaas-Jan Huntelaar needs one more goal to reach 50 in UEFA club competition. Thirteen players have achieved that feat so far.

The coaches
• Lucescu has been in charge at Shakhtar since 2004 and has led the Pitmen to eight Ukrainian titles and five national cups as well as the 2009 UEFA Cup. The one-time striker, 70, has coached in Romania and Italy and won back-to-back Turkish titles with different clubs in the early 2000s.

• André Breitenreiter, 42, took over at Schalke in June having led SC Paderborn 07 to promotion in 2013/14, then steered them momentarily to the top of the Bundesliga. An attacking midfielder, he began his career with Hannover 96 and Hamburger SV yet spent the bulk of his playing days in the lower leagues.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Schalke's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 D2:
W 4-1 A v FC Internazionale Milano (1996/97 UEFA Cup final)
L 5-4 A v SK Slavia Praha (1998/99 UEFA Cup first round)
L 3-1 A v Brøndby IF (2003/04 UEFA Cup second round)
W 4-1 A v FC Porto (2007/08 UEFA Champions League round of 16)

• Shakhtar lost their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
L 4-1 A v Club Brugge KV (2002/03 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)