Baptism of fire awaits AaB's new man

A fortnight after Aalborg BK and Villarreal CF conspired to produce a nine-goal thriller in Spain, the teams will meet again in Denmark on Matchday 4, this time with a new man at the AaB helm.

• Allan Kuhn took temporary charge of the Danish champions following the departure of Bruce Rioch on 23 October, 48 hours after their 6-3 defeat at El Madrigal. He will retain his temporary position until AaB make a permanent appointment in the new year.

• Kuhn will be hoping to inspire AaB to a first victory in Group E in his first UEFA Champions League game as either player or manager, but he will know an awkward evening awaits against opponents aiming to secure qualification for the knockout stage.

• Villarreal, level on seven points at the top of the section with leaders Manchester United FC, would confirm their progress if they beat AaB and Celtic FC failed to defeat United in Glasgow. They could also qualify with a draw should Celtic lose.

• AaB, who sit at the foot of the section with just one point, must win if they are to retain realistic hope of closing the six-point gap on the top two and reaching the last 16. If they lose, though, and Manchester United take a point or more at Celtic Park, they will be eliminated.

• Substitute Joseba Llorente stole the headlines with an 18-minute hat-trick, the first in this season's competition, in Villarreal's 6-3 defeat of AaB on Matchday 3 – not a bad way for the Spanish forward to get off the mark in the UEFA Champions League.

• AaB started the goal rush through Marek Saganowski (19), trailed 2-1 after Giuseppe Rossi (28) and Joan Capdevila (33) struck, then drew level soon after via Thomas Enevoldsen (36). However, Llorente's show of sharp-shooting (67, 70, 84) combined with a Robert Pirès header (79) to send the Danish side home empty-handed, crushing the hopes they had raised of a comeback when Andreas Johansson (77) made it 4-3.

• This was a second defeat in three games for AaB, who began their campaign with a creditable goalless draw at Celtic but were brought down to earth by a 3-0 home loss to Manchester United in their second outing.

• Villarreal, who suffered only one loss in five European away matches during the previous two seasons, began their campaign with a goalless draw at United, where they became the first team in 13 European ties to leave Old Trafford undefeated. Manuel Pellegrini's side built on that promising start with a 1-0 home victory against Celtic on Matchday 2.

• Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla was among the scorers when the Spanish club visited Denmark for the first time four years ago.

• Facing Odense BK in the UEFA Intertoto Cup second round in July 2004, Cazorla struck the second goal in a 3-0 first-leg victory for Villarreal in Denmark before Pellegrini's men completed the job with a 2-0 home win.

• AaB have twice faced Spanish opposition on home soil. In September 1993 they defeated RC Deportivo La Coruña 1-0 through a Søren Thorst goal in the first round of the UEFA Cup, but subsequently crashed to a 5-0 second-leg loss.

• The Danish team also went down to Spanish Liga opponents in last season's UEFA Cup group stage, a 2-1 home defeat by Getafe CF confirming their elimination from the competition with a game to spare.

• Villarreal defender Ángel López featured for Spain in a 2-1 victory against Denmark in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier in March 2007.

• As a teenager, AaB forward Saganowski appeared as a substitute for former club Feyenoord in both legs of a 3-1 aggregate victory against Spanish side RCD Espanyol in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup second round.