Zurich first in line to face Madrid
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Article summary
FC Zürich received a plum Matchday 1 draw in their first UEFA Champions League campaign when they were paired with Real Madrid CF, star-studded opponents with eyes on a tenth crown after five early exits.
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FC Zürich were handed a prized opening fixture for their UEFA Champions League group-stage debut when Real Madrid CF were drawn to start the Group C campaign in Switzerland on Matchday 1.
Previous meetings
• The sides met in the last four of the 1963/64 European Champion Clubs' Cup, Madrid winning 6-0 at home and 2-1 away. They lost 3-1 in the final to FC Internazionale Milano.
Match background
• Zurich reached this stage with a play-off defeat of FK Ventspils, Johan Vonlanthen, Silvan Aegerter and Dušan Djurić securing a 3-0 win in Latvia before second-leg strikes from Vonlanthen and Almen Abdi completed a 5-1 aggregate victory.
• Last season Madrid were beaten 5-0 on aggregate by Liverpool FC in the first knockout round. It maintained their record of always getting through the group stage in their 13 campaigns to date, topping the section seven times. However, last year was the fifth successive season they lost out in the last 16.
• Madrid launched the campaign 12 months ago with a 2-0 win against FC BATE Borisov at the Santiago Bernabéu and in 2007 they began with a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen. Before that they had lost three successive Matchday 1 fixtures, two 3-0 defeats against Olympique Lyonnais and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and a 2-0 loss to Lyon again.
• Last season Madrid won two away group games, at BATE and FC Zenit St. Petersburg, losing at Juventus.
Team ties
• Vonlanthen came up against Pepe when Switzerland shocked Portugal 2-0 at UEFA EURO 2008™.
• Vonlanthen and Xavier Margairaz were in the Switzerland team that recorded a 2-1 friendly win against the Netherlands in August 2007. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rafael van der Vaart lined up on the opposite side.
• The Swiss duo were in the team beaten 2-1 by Brazil in November 2006, Kaká scoring Brazil's second.
• Hannu Tihinen faced Pepe and Christiano Ronaldo in Finland's goalless draw in Portugal in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying in November 2007. Tihinen and Ronaldo played in the Helsinki fixture in September 2006, which ended 1-1.
• Tihinen also featured in Finland's 4-0 home defeat by the Netherlands in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Van Nistelrooy opening the scoring.
• Liechtenstein's Martin Büchel played in their 4-0 defeat by Spain in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying in September 2006. Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Raúl González were all on the winning side.