Stuttgart steeled for Barcelona might

Three sets of former team-mates will be reunited as VfB Stuttgart take on FC Barcelona for the first time on UEFA Champions League Matchday 2. On Matchday 1, Stuttgart relinquished a second-half lead against Rangers FC to lose 2-1 while Barcelona scored three goals with no reply in their home match with Olympique Lyonnais.

• The two sides have never met in European club competition.

• Stuttgart have played six competitive games against Spanish opposition - three two-legged UEFA Cup ties - winning one, drawing two and losing three. At home, their record reads won one, drawn one, lost one.

• Barça have played German opponents 41 times, with notable previous meetings seeing them beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 4-3 in the 1978 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, and beating Werder Bremen and BV Borussia Dortmund respectively over two legs in the 1992 and 1997 UEFA Super Cups.

• Their overall record against Bundesliga sides reads won 21, drawn nine, lost eleven. In their 19 away games against German sides they have won six, drawn eight and lost five.

• Four of Barça's games against German sides have been played under current coach Frank Rijkaard. Paired with Werder Bremen twice in the UEFA Champions League group stage, the Dutchman has masterminded three wins and a draw against the German side.

• As coach of the Netherlands, Rijkaard twice took on Germany in friendly games, winning one and drawing one. As a Dutch international, he played in five games against Germany, winning two, drawing two and losing one.

• The first European game of Rijkaard's club career saw him score in a 2-1 AFC Ajax win against FC Bayern München on 5 November 1980. In total, his record of games against German sides with both Ajax and AC Milan reads won five, drawn two and lost one.

• The match could see three sets of former team-mates come face to face.

• Stuttgart defender Matthieu Delpierre played alongside his Barça counterpart Eric Abidal at LOSC Lille Métropole between 2003 and 2004. Lille finished tenth in Ligue 1 in their only full season together, 2003/04.

• The Catalan side's Mexican defender Rafael Márquez played with Stuttgart midfielder Pável Pardo at Guadalajara side CF Atlas between 1996 and 1998.

• Stuttgart's left-back Arthur Boka followed former ASEC Abidjan team-mate Yaya Touré to Belgian side KSK Beveren in 2002 - the midfielder had joined the club a year earlier - where the two Ivorian stars played together until 2004. Beveren finished eleventh in the 18-team league in their first season together and twelfth in their second, qualifying for the UEFA Cup as beaten Belgian Cup finalists.

• Stuttgart qualified for the group stage as German champions, while Barça got there by finishing second in Spain.

• Barça travel to face Rangers on Matchday 3 while on the same evening, 23 October, Stuttgart welcome Lyon.