Ramos eyes glory once again

Udinese Calcio will host English opponents for the first time in UEFA Cup Group D, with Tottenham Hotspur FC manager Juande Ramos looking to become only the second coach to win the competition three times.

• Ramos famously became the first coach to win back-to-back UEFA Cups when he led Sevilla FC to glory in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 editions of the competition before joining Tottenham last season.

• Giovanni Trapattoni, now manager of the Republic of Ireland, is the most successful coach in UEFA Cup history with three final wins in 1976/77, 1990/91 and 1992/93. The first and third triumphs came at Juventus and the middle one with FC Internazionale Milano.

• Ramos and Trapattoni are the only coaches to have won the competition more than once.

• Should Ramos win it again this time around, Tottenham – winners in 1971/72 and 1983/84 – would join Juventus, Inter and Liverpool FC as the fourth side to win the competition three times.

• This is Udinese and Tottenham's first meeting in UEFA club competition.

• Tottenham will be the first English club to pay a visit to the Stadio Friuli in what is Udinese's debut game against a Premier League side.

• Tottenham, surprisingly, have only played one tie against an Italian side in their long European history, a 1971/72 UEFA Cup semi-final against AC Milan, which they won 3-2 on aggregate en route to a win by the same score over two legs against Wolverhampton Wanderers FC in the inaugural UEFA Cup final. Tottenham won the competition for a second time in 1983/84.

• Romeo Benetti put Milan ahead in the first leg at White Hart Lane but Steve Perryman scored a goal in each half to give Spurs a 2-1 lead to take to Italy.

• The second leg in Milan ended in a 1-1 draw, with Gianni Rivera equalising for the home side from the penalty spot after Alan Mullery's early strike.

• Pasquale Marino's Udinese qualified for the UEFA Cup first round with a seventh-placed finish in Serie A last season, and beat BV Borussia Dortmund 4-3 on penalties, after trading 2-0 home defeats, to reach the group stage.

• Tottenham beat Chelsea FC 2-1 after extra time in the English League Cup final to earn their UEFA Cup place, and beat Wisła Kraków 3-2 over two legs to get to this stage of the competition.

• NK Dinamo Zagreb take on NEC Nijmegen in Matchday 1's other Group D game. FC Spartak Moskva are the only side in the section not in action on 23 October.