Schalke wary ahead of Spanish test

FC Schalke 04 and their coach Fred Rutten will be hoping to put an end to a disappointing run of results against Spanish opposition as they travel to face Real Racing Club in Santander in UEFA Cup Group A.

• This is Racing and Schalke's first meeting in UEFA club competition.

• Racing have never come up against German opponents before in a competitive game. Schalke, in contrast, have played against Spanish sides on 18 occassions and have an overall record of W6 D4 L8. In Spain, they have won twice, drawn twice and lost five times, the most recent of those defeats coming against Club Atlético de Madrid in this season's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round when they went down 4-0 to be eliminated 4-1 on aggregate.

• Schalke also bowed out to a team from Spain in the quarter-finals of the same competition last season, losing 1-0 to FC Barcelona in both legs.

• Schalke boss Rutten has further experience of Spanish opposition from last season during his time in charge of FC Twente. His side lost 1-0 at Getafe CF and could not quite recover on home soil, winning 3-2 in extra time, with Schalke star Orlando Engelaar among the scorers, but bowing out on away goals.

• Rutten spent his entire playing career at Twente, moving into coaching with the Enschede club and leading them to a Dutch Cup triumph in 2001. He spent four seasons at PSV Eindhoven, working as Guus Hiddink's assistant, before returning to Twente in 2006.

• He signed a two-year contract at Schalke this summer, and has been charged with leading the club to their first German title since 1957/58. All seven of the Gelsenkirchen club's title successes came before the advent of the Bundesliga in 1963/64.

• Racing coach Juan Ramón López Muñiz was a central defender with hometown side Real Sporting de Gijón, Rayo Vallecano and CD Numancia before moving into coaching. After spells at UD Marbella and Málaga CF, he took over in Santander this summer.

• Twente beat Santander 1-0 in their opening Group A game in the Netherlands on Mathday 1 while Schalke earned a 3-1 home win against Paris Saint-Germain FC.

• Racing central defender José Antonio has recent experience of German football, having played for VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach from 2005 to 2007.

• Racing defender Pablo Pinillos is within a booking of a one-match suspension after receiving yellow cards in his last two UEFA Cup games.

• This is only Racing's eighth game on the continental stage and their second season in European club competition, having made their debut in the 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

• Racing have never drawn a game in UEFA club competition.

• They have also never scored more than one goal in a European game, while all of their wins and defeats have been by one-goal margins.

• Five of their seven European games – including all of their last three – have finished 1-0, with the Spanish side on the winning side three times and on the losing side twice.

• Manchester City FC are at home against Twente in Matchday 2's other Group A game. PSG are the only team in the section not in action on Thursday.