Wolfsburg head for Milan summit meeting

Avoiding defeat at AC Milan could prove to be a major coup for VfL Wolfsburg, who are two points clear of the Italian giants at the top of Group E with finishing places a major factor in the draw for the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

• Group winners will be paired with third-placed sides from other UEFA Cup sections, while second-placed finishers will be drawn against one of the eight sides who finished third in the UEFA Champions League groups. The UEFA Cup group winners and runners-up will play the second leg at home.

• Milan confirmed their progress to the Round of 32 with a 2-2 draw at Portsmouth FC on Matchday 3 and were not in action on Matchday 4 when Wolfsburg beat the English side 3-2 to maintain their 100 per cent record and guarantee themselves European football in the spring.

• This is Milan and Wolfsburg's first meeting in UEFA club competition.

• Milan have played 34 games against German sides in UEFA club competition, with their record reading W17 D8 L9.

• In Wolfsburg's only games against Italian opposition, they took on AC Perugia in one of the finals of the 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup, losing 1-0 in Italy and 2-0 in Germany. Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac kept a clean sheet in both legs of that game for Perugia.

• Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti and Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath have faced each other in three games, twice as coaches and once as players, with both men ending up on the winning side once each.

• Ancelotti's Milan met Magath's FC Bayern München in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League first knockout stage, the Rossoneri drawing 1-1 in Munich and winning 4-1 at home.

• Ancelotti and Magath also crossed paths as players in 1986 as Italy lost 2-1 to West Germany in an international friendly game in Avellino.

• Ancelotti's 12 games against German sides as Milan coach have left him with the record W7 D3 L2. Adding in his previous games as a coach against Bundesliga clubs, his record is W8 D4 L4.

• Ancelotti also played eight games in UEFA club competition against German sides, ending with the record W3 D1 L4.

• Wolfsburg boss Magath has coached in ten games against Serie A teams, his record reading W3 D2 L5. His five games as a coach in Italy have yielded a win and four defeats. That sole victory came in Milan, with his Bayern side beating FC Internazionale Milano 2-0 in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League.

• He also played in three UEFA club competition games against Italian sides, winning two and losing one, and scored the only goal of the game for Hamburger SV against Juventus in the 1983 European Champion Clubs' Cup final.

• Wolfsburg boast Italian talent in the form of defenders Cristian Zaccardo and Andrea Barzagli, both of whom joined the club from US Città di Palermo in the summer.

• Milan midfielder Emerson played in Germany with Bayer 04 Leverkusen from 1997 to 2000.

• Milan have won both of their UEFA Cup home games this season. They have lost only one of their last 12 UEFA Cup home games – 1-0 to Roda JC in February 2002 – winning the remaining eleven.

• Wolfsburg have won three of their last five European away games, with the other two matches ending in a draw and a defeat. They have earned a win and a draw on their travels already this season.

• Portsmouth meet Heerenveen in Wednesday's other Group E game. Braga, who are also through, are the only team not in action in the section.

• The draw for the UEFA Cup Round of 32 (when teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other) and Round of 16 will be held at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon on Friday 19 December at 13.00CET.