Stuttgart make rapid return to Romania

It is a quick return to Romania for VfB Stuttgart who face FC Unirea Urziceni in their first away game in the UEFA Champions League, one month after a significant victory in that country helped ensure their group-stage place. Both teams have food for thought after Matchday 1, Unirea going down 2-0 at Sevilla FC while Pavel Pogrebnyak's goal against Rangers FC was only enough to give Stuttgart a 1-1 home draw.

Previous meetings
• Stuttgart, third in the Bundesliga last season, qualified for their third group-stage campaign after coming through a play-off test against another Romanian side, FC Timişoara. Markus Babbel's team won 2-0 away through first-half goals from Timo Gebhart, a penalty, and Aleksandr Hleb before a goalless home draw.

• In their only other fixture against Romanian opponents, Stuttgart beat FC Rapid Bucureşti 2-1 in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage.

• In their only previous home fixture against German opponents, Unirea lost 2-0 at home to Hamburger SV in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round to bow out of the competition after the away leg – the Romanian side's debut in UEFA club competition had ended scoreless.

Match background
• In their 2007/08 group stage Stuttgart lost all three of their away games, conceding nine goals and scoring four.

• In 2003/04 the German side won one of their three away group matches – at Panathinaikos FC – and lost two, scoring four and conceding five. They progressed to the first knockout round where they drew 0-0 at Chelsea FC having gone down 1-0 at home.

• Taking their three away games in last season's UEFA Cup into account – a loss and a draw in the group stage and then defeat by FC Zenit St. Petersburg in the round of 32 – Stuttgart have won only one of their last seven European fixtures on foreign soil in either the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Cup proper.

Team ties
• Stuttgart's Romanian striker Ciprian Marica will come up against international team-mates Vasile Maftei and Iulian Apostol.

• In last season's UEFA Cup first round, a Rapid Bucureşti team with Maftei in their ranks lost to VfL Wolfsburg. The defender scored in the home leg which ended 1-1 after the current Bundesliga champions had won 1-0 in Germany.

• Maftei was also in the Rapid team beaten 2-1 at Stuttgart in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Unirea coach Dan Petrescu was in the Chelsea side that beat Stuttgart 1-0 to win the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Stockholm.

• Petrescu and Babbel came face to face as Germany played Romania in the UEFA EURO 2000™ group stage. The game in Liege ended 1-1.

• In the following season the pair locked horns again as Babbel's Liverpool FC team overcame Petrescu's Bradford City AFC 1-0 at Anfield in a Premier League fixture on 19 August 2000.