Newcomers vie for quarter-final berth

For Fenerbahçe SK it was success at the fifth attempt as they qualified for the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Sevilla FC achieved the same feat in their first foray on European club football's biggest stage and now the two clubs meet for the right to prolong their adventure to the quarter-finals.

• Fenerbahçe not only finished in their highest ever position but their eleven-point tally was the best a Turkish team has managed since the competition began, surpassing Galatasaray AS's record of ten points set in the second group stage of the 2000/01 edition. Yet they will not want to rest on their laurels and will be looking to repeat their fine home form in the competition thus far to set up an opportunity to remove the Spanish side from their path.

• Zico's team won all three fixtures at the Sükrü Saraçoglu Stadium, conceding just once in their final outing at home. That game, against PFC CSKA Moskva, resulted in a 3-1 victory with strikes from Alex and Uğur Boral (2) cancelling out Edu's own-goal opener. Earlier, they accounted for FC Internazionale Milano 1-0 there thanks to a Deivid effort. PSV Eindhoven were swept aside 2-0 – Semih Şentürk getting the second after a Dirk Marcellis own goal – and, bolstered by two away draws, Fenerbahçe finished runners-up in Group G, four points behind Inter.

• The Turkish champions will want to concentrate on that home form for inspiration rather than their previous results against Spanish visitors because they have lost every European game played against teams from that country, seven in total, and scored in only two of those matches.

• At home they were beaten 3-0 in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League first group stage by FC Barcelona while in the UEFA Cup they went down 2-1 against Real Betis Balompié in the 1995/96 first round and 1-0 against Real Zaragoza in the 2004/05 Round of 32.

• Spanish teams have won on their last four visits to Turkey in the UEFA Champions League starting with that Fenerbahçe defeat by Barcelona in 2001.

• Sevilla, though, have only faced opponents from Turkey on one previous occasion. In the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage they beat Beşiktaş JK 3-0 at home, helped by two goals from striker Frédéric Kanouté, on their way to lifting their first European silverware. The Spanish side carried off the UEFA Cup trophy again the following season and on each occasion they owed a lot to their home form.

• In 14 fixtures at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán during those two triumphant UEFA Cup campaigns Sevilla lost just once, with two draws and eleven victories. Their first UEFA Champions League campaign has marked a continuation of their dominance in Spain with three wins.

• Away, they lost on their first appearance in the competition, against Arsenal FC. However, Manuel Jiménez's men followed that 3-0 reverse with a 2-0 win at FC Steaua Bucureşti – Renato getting both goals – and a 3-0 victory at SK Slavia Praha – Luis Fabiano, Kanouté and Daniel Alves all scoring – to give them a two-point advantage at the head of the section.