Valencia in urgent need of Leverkusen lift

Defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on matchday three has left Valencia CF playing catch-up in Group E and the Spanish side are in urgent need of a first win in the section as the teams meet again at Mestalla.

• The game at the BayArena on 19 October was the first meeting between the sides, Leverkusen coming from a goal down to win 2-1 and record a second successive home victory.

• Valencia opened with draws at KRC Genk (0-0) and at home to Chelsea FC (1-1). Leverkusen bounced back from a 2-0 matchday one loss at Chelsea with a 2-0 home victory against Genk, their subsequent defeat of Valencia giving them a four-point cushion in second place.

Match background
• Valencia's record against German clubs is W4 D10 L10. At home the statistics are W3 D7 L1 and they have never won a UEFA Champions League fixture against German visitors. Their last four games have ended all square and there have been six draws in the last seven contests.

• Valencia's progress in last season's competition – their seventh participation – came to a halt against FC Schalke 04 in the round of 16. They drew 1-1 at Mestalla with Schalke winning the second leg 3-1 in Germany. Valencia lost 1-0 at home to Manchester United FC in the group stage but won their other two home games in style, beating Rangers FC 3-0 and Bursaspor 6-1.

• Valencia were beaten by FC Bayern München in the 2001 UEFA Champions League final, losing a penalty shoot-out at San Siro after a 1-1 draw.

• Leverkusen had not won in their last seven games against Liga opponents before matchday three and their full record is W7 D5 L12. Their previous victory came in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage, a 3-0 defeat of Real Madrid CF, who had beaten Leverkusen 2-1 in the 2002 final in Glasgow.

• In Spain Leverkusen have two victories to their name from 11 visits. Their last success came at RC Deportivo La Coruña in a 2001/02 UEFA Champions League second group stage fixture which they won 3-1 with Michael Ballack on the scoresheet.

• The Werkself won their only major European trophy to date by beating RCD Espanyol on penalties in the two-legged 1988 UEFA Cup final, each game finishing 3-0 in favour of the home side.

• This is Leverkusen's seventh UEFA Champions League participation. In their latest group campaign seven years ago they lost 4-2 at FC Dynamo Kyiv before drawing 1-1 at both AS Roma and Real Madrid, finishing top of the section with 11 points. They failed to progress from the round of 16, however, losing 3-1 both home and away against Liverpool FC.

Team ties
• Ricardo Costa played for VfL Wolfsburg between 2007 and 2010 but only faced Leverkusen on two occasions, in 2007/08 when his team recorded a draw and a defeat. He scored a 73rd-minute own goal in the 2-2 draw at the BayArena on 27 April 2008.

• Jonas and Renato Augusto have both made their debuts for Brazil this year and played together in the 2-0 friendly defeat of Scotland on 27 March.

• Mehmet Topal was part of the Galatasaray AŞ team beaten 5-1 by Leverkusen in the away leg of a 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 32 encounter after the game in Turkey had ended goalless. Stefan Kiessling scored Leverkusen's second goal.

• Topal was part of the Turkey team who lost the UEFA EURO 2008 semi-final 3-2 against a Germany team including Simon Rolfes and Ballack.

• Ballack was in the Chelsea side who faced Valencia in the UEFA Champions League 2006/07 quarter-final. The London outfit won 2-1 in Spain after drawing the home game 1-1. Miguel and David Albelda played for Valencia, all three players appearing in both legs.

• Ballack scored for Germany in a friendly international against a Netherlands side featuring Hedwiges Maduro in Rotterdam in August 2005. His goal began Germany's comeback for a 2-2 draw after the hosts had taken a two-goal lead.