Stuttgart bent on sinking Sevilla

Pegged back at the VfB Arena by a late Rangers FC equaliser in the opening round of Group G matches, VfB Stuttgart will be determined to avoid another slip when they play host to Sevilla FC on Matchday 3.

• The Bundesliga outfit lie second in the section on two points, having also drawn 1-1 at FC Unirea Urziceni, while leaders Sevilla followed up their 2-0 home victory over the Romanian titleholders by triumphing 4-1 at Rangers.

Previous meetings
• It is an early reunion for teams who met 12 months ago in Spain during the UEFA Cup group stage, Sevilla winning 2-0. In their first ever competitive fixture, Ndri Romaric opened the scoring for the 2006 and 2007 UEFA Cup winners and Renato quickly doubled the lead.

• The teams for the game on 23 October 2008 were:
Sevilla: Palop, Konko, Squillaci, Escudé, Navarro, Navas (Rodríguez 75), Adriano, Fazio, Acosta (De Mul 21), Renato (Maresca 62), Romaric.
Stuttgart: Lehmann, Träsch (Marica 46), Boulahrouz, Delpierre, Magnin, Hilbert, Pardo, Hitzlsperger, Boka (Rudy 74), Gómez, Lanig (Élson 57).

Match background
• Stuttgart have not won in three games at home to Spanish opponents and failed to even score in their last two fixtures. In nine meetings overall, home and away, they have triumphed once, seeing off Real Sociedad de Fútbol 1-0 in their first meeting with a Spanish side in the opening leg of the 1988/89 UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

• Sevilla have had three away games against German clubs, drawing 0-0 on their most recent trip at FC Schalke 04 in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup semi-finals. In the first round a Frédéric Kanouté double had earned a 2-0 win at 1. FSV Mainz 05, while their other trip ended in a 4-0 loss to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup third round.

• The Matchday 1 draw with Rangers at least helped Stuttgart improve their home record in the UEFA Champions League. Before that, they had lost three of their last four games in their own stadium.

Team ties
• Khalid Boulahrouz made six league and two UEFA Champions League qualifying appearances on loan at Sevilla in 2007/08.

• In November 2004 Kanouté scored Tottenham Hotspur FC's fourth goal in a 5-4 home defeat by an Arsenal FC side containing Jens Lehmann.

• In May 2005 Kanouté scored twice for Spurs in a 5-1 Premier League defeat of an Aston Villa FC side containing Thomas Hitzlsperger.

• Didier Zokora helped Tottenham to a 2-1 home victory over Chelsea FC in the 2006/07 Premier League campaign, with Boulahrouz a half-time substitute for the visitors. The duo also crossed paths in the FA Cup quarter-finals that year, contesting the 3-3 draw before the Blues won the replay.

• During the 2000/01 Premier League campaign, Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel and Kanouté twice faced each other as Babbel's Liverpool FC beat West Ham United FC 3-0 at Anfield and drew 1-1 away.

• Arthur Boka is an international team-mate of Zokora, Arouna Koné and Romaric with the Ivory Coast.

• Julien Escudé scored an own goal for France in a 1-1 draw with Romania in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 5 September 2009. Ciprian Marica was on the opposing side.

• Aleksandr Hleb was an 89th-minute substitute for FC Barcelona during a 3-0 victory at Sevilla in the 2008/09 Liga season.