Schaaf and Ancelotti lock horns again

Coach Thomas Schaaf's Werder Bremen welcome tournament favourites AC Milan to the Weserstadion in the UEFA Cup Round of 32 looking for their first win in five attempts against the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League winners.

• Bremen and Milan have met on four previous occasions, the Rossoneri picking up two away draws and two wins on home soil.

• Current Milan head coach Carlo Ancelotti and his opposite number Schaaf both started for their respective clubs in a 0-0 first-leg draw in Bremen at the quarter-final stage of the 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup.

• The starting lineups for that goalless draw were:
Bremen: Oliver Reck, Thomas Schaaf, Jonny Otten, Rune Bratseth, Michael Kutzop, Günter Hermann, Frank Ordenewitz, Miroslav Votava, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Frank Neubarth, Norbert Meier.
Milan: Giovanni Galli, Mauro Tassotti, Alessandro Costacurta, Angelo Colombo, Frank Rijkaard, Franco Baresi, Roberto Donadoni, Carlo Ancelotti, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Alberigo Evani.

• Ancelotti also appeared in the second leg, a game Arrigo Sacchi's Milan edged 1-0 to progress to the semi-final at the expense of Otto Rehhagel's Bremen. Marco van Basten scored the only goal of the tie.

• The teams met again twice in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League group stage. In the first game in Milan, Paolo Maldini and Dejan Savičević scored either side of a Mario Basler effort to give Fabio Capello's charges a 2-1 win.

• Maldini's goal was only his second in European club competition. His first came against ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the second round of the 1992/93 UEFA Champions League and his third and last in 173 European appearances to date was against Liverpool in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final.

• A Wynton Rufer penalty gave Rehhagel's men the lead in the return fixture in Bremen, only for Savičević to equalise from open play. Schaaf was an unused substitute for the Bundesliga club.

• The teams that day were:
Bremen: Oliver Reck, Andree Wiedener, Thorsten Legat, Rune Bratseth, Dietmar Beiersdorfer, Mario Basler, Marco Bode (Lars Unger, 88), Miroslav Votava, Bernd Hobsch, Frank Neubarth, Wynton Rufer.
Milan: Sebastiano Rossi, Mauro Tassotti, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Donadoni, Alessandro Costacurta, Filippo Galli, Stefano Eranio (Marco Simone, 56), Marcel Desailly, Zvonimir Boban, Dejan Savičević (Demetrio Albertini, 87), Daniele Massaro.

• Milan drew 2-2 with VfL Wolfsburg in their final group-stage match of this season's UEFA Cup to take their record against German sides in European competition to W17 D9 L9.

• Milan have a record of W4 D6 L7 from 17 away encounters with German clubs, and are unbeaten in five games in Germany since a 4-0 first-leg defeat by BV Borussia Dortmund in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup semi-finals on 4 April 2002.

• After a 1-1 away draw and 2-1 home win against FC Internazionale Milano in Group B of this season's UEFA Champions League, Bremen's record from 22 games against Italian opposition now reads W8 D8 L6.

• The Bundesliga outfit are unbeaten in eleven home matches against Italian clubs, a run comprising six wins and five draws.

• Former AS Roma and Milan midfielder Ancelotti faced teams from Germany eight times during his playing career, recording W3 D1 L4. Four of these matches came on German soil and ended in one draw and three defeats.

• He also represented Italy in two encounters with the former West Germany, drawing one and losing the other.

• Since hanging up his boots, Ancelotti has enjoyed a greater degree of success against German opponents. His coaching record from 17 games against Bundesliga sides reads W8 D5 L4, while he can point to a respectable W3 D3 L2 in eight visits to Germany.

• Schaaf played for Bremen in four matches against Italian clubs, winning one and drawing three. Both home fixtures ended level.

• In 12 games against Serie A opposition as Bremen coach, his overall record reads W5 D3 L4. Of six home fixtures, his teams have won five and drawn one.

• Bremen's Claudio Pizarro and Milan's Andriy Shevchenko were team-mates at Chelsea FC in 2007/08. The Peruvian scored twice in his 21 Premier League appearances, 17 of which were made as a substitute. The Ukrainian forward, for his part, struck five times in 17 league appearances, coming off the bench on nine occasions.

• On-loan Milan midfielder David Beckham has only played twice in the UEFA Cup, featuring in both legs of a 1995/96 first round tie against SC Rotor Volgograd, which Manchester United FC lost on away goals after a 0-0 draw in Russia and a 2-2 result at home. Team-mate Alessandro Nesta has also been added to the Milan squad, having not played in the competition since 1998, when he was an S.S. Lazio player.

• A 3-0 group-stage reverse at the hands of Panathinaikos FC in this season's UEFA Champions League was Bremen's only defeat in their last seven European games at home.

• Milan are unbeaten in six UEFA Cup games this season. Nor have they lost in their last six European away encounters since a 2-1 defeat at Celtic FC in Group D of last season's UEFA Champions League.

• Fifth in Serie A in 2007/08, Milan qualified for the Round of 32 with a second-place finish in UEFA Cup Group E. Bremen, Bundesliga runners-up last season, earned their ticket when finishing third in UEFA Champions League Group B.

• Bremen's Torsten Frings is suspended for this game, while team-mate Frank Baumann will miss the return leg if he is booked. The same goes for Milan's Luca Antonini.

• January squad changes:-
Bremen
Players added to squad list:Alexandros Tziolis, Niklas Andersen.
Players removed from squad list:Said Husejinović, Boubacar Sanogo, Dennis Diekmeier.
Milan
Players added to squad list:Alessandro Nesta, David Beckham.
Players removed from squad list:Marco Borriello, Emerson.

• The winners of this tie will take on Olympiacos CFP or AS Saint-Etienne in the Round of 16 on 12 and 18/19 March, and will play the first leg at home.