HSV and Anderlecht set to renew acquaintances

It is more than 32 years since Hamburger SV last crossed paths with RSC Anderlecht, but neither side will have forgotten their early encounters as they come together for a fourth time in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

Previous meetings
• The two clubs have faced each other three times in total, with all of those games coming in the space of five months in 1977 as they recorded a victory apiece and a draw.

• They first met in the 1977 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Amsterdam, when Kuno Klötzer's Hamburg overcame Raymond Goethals' Anderlecht 2-0 to land their first major European trophy.

• The teams for that game at the Olympisch Stadium on 11 May 1977 were:
Hamburg: Kargus, Kaltz, Nogly, Memering, Hidien, Ripp, Steffenhagen, Keller, Reimann, Magath, Volkert.
Anderlecht: Ruiter, Van Binst, Broos, Vandendaele, Thissen, Dockx (Van Poucke, 80), Van Der Elst, Haan, Ressel, Coeck, Rensenbrink.

• Goethals' Anderlecht avenged that defeat in the second round of the same competition the following season, beating Rudi Gutendorf's Hamburg 2-1 in Germany and drawing the return leg 1-1 in Brussels.

• The teams for the fixture at the Volksparkstadion on 19 October 1977 were:
Hamburg: Kargus, Kaltz, Nogly, Memering, Hidien, Magath, Keegan, Keller, Reimann, Steffenhagen, Volkert.
Anderlecht: De Bree, Van Binst, Broos, Dusbaba, Thissen, Vercauteren, Van Der Elst, Haan, Nielsen (Dockx, 65), Coeck, Rensenbrink.

Match background
• Hamburg have disputed five matches against Belgian opponents in UEFA club competition, earning themselves the record W1 D2 L2 (W0 D1 L1 in Hamburg). They also faced KAA Gent in the 1970/71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the non-UEFA affiliated predecessor of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League, winning 1-0 in Belgium and 7-1 at home.

• Anderlecht have met Bundesliga opposition 29 times and their record reads W11 D3 L15 (W4 D0 L9 in Germany). Prior to a 2-1 second-leg win at FC Bayern München in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16 – a tie they lost 6-2 on aggregate – they had not won in their last ten games against German sides.

• Hamburg are unbeaten in their last five European home outings, recording four victories and a draw since succumbing 1-0 to Danish side Randers FC in this season's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.

• Anderlecht are unbeaten in four away games since the start of the UEFA Europa League group stage, posting two wins and two stalemates since a 5-1 loss at Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Champions League play-off round.

Team facts
• Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has never faced Anderlecht but has come up against Belgium in three friendly games with the Netherlands, featuring in a loss and two draws.

• Hamburg's Zé Roberto played for Bayern in both of their 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group-stage meetings with Anderlecht, a 1-0 home win and a 1-1 draw in Brussels. Team-mate Piotr Trochowski was an unused substitute during the match in Belgium.

• Hamburg central defender David Rozehnal boasts previous experience of football in Belgium, having won a league title and a Belgian Cup with Club Brugge KV between 2003 and 2005.

• Anderlecht defender Jelle Van Damme spent part of the 2005/06 season on loan at German outfit Werder Bremen prior to joining his current employers from Southampton FC.

• Anderlecht's Czech midfielder Jan Polák also moved to Brussels following a spell in the Bundesliga, where he represented 1. FC Nürnberg from 2005 to 2007.

• Hamburg's next goal will be their 400th in UEFA club competition, with this first leg representing their 227th European game.

• Final hosts Hamburg are one of three German sides in the last 16, along with VfL Wolfsburg and Bremen. The Bundesliga boasts the most UEFA Europa League contenders at this stage. Anderlecht are one of two Belgian sides left in the competition, along with R. Standard de Liège.

• The tie concludes at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 18 March. The draw for the quarter-finals will be staged the following day.