Twente offer first hurdle in latest OM quest

Losing finalists in 1998/99 and 2003/04, when they fell foul of Parma AC and Valencia CF respectively, Olympique de Marseille are set to launch a fresh bid for UEFA Cup glory at home against FC Twente in the Round of 32.

• This will be the two sides' first meeting in European club competition.

• Twente have played five matches against opponents from France, losing four and winning just one. Their three competitive games on French soil to date have all ended in defeat.

• Marseille will be Twente's third Ligue 1 opponents this campaign. They edged out Stade Rennais FC on away goals in the first round and lost 4-0 at Paris Saint-Germain FC in Group A. Those encounters are Twente head coach Steve McClaren's only previous experience of facing French opposition.

• Marseille have played nine games against Dutch sides, and their overall record reads W3 D1 L5. At home their record is W2 D1 L2, which includes wins in their last two matches against Eredivisie outfits at the Stade Vélodrome.

• Marseille met one of coach Erik Gerets's former clubs, Twente's Dutch rivals PSV Eindhoven, in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage. OM lost 2-0 in the Netherlands and won 3-0 at home.

• Former Belgium international right-back Gerets played in the Netherlands for MVV Maastricht in the 1984/85 season before a seven-year spell at PSV between 1985 and 1992. He later coached the Eindhoven club from 1999 to 2002.

• In his coaching career thus far, Gerets has met Dutch opposition in four UEFA club competition matches – recording W1 D0 L3. Of two home fixtures, his teams have won one and lost one.

• Gerets also represented Belgium in four matches against the Netherlands, accruing a record of W1 D1 L2. His solitary success against the Oranje came on home soil.

• Though opposite number McClaren had not encountered French opposition prior to this season, he did come up against Gerets's PSV in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League group stage in his role as assistant to Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson. United lost 3-1 in Eindhoven but returned the favour in kind at Old Trafford.

• Marseille's Dutch midfielder Boudewijn Zenden has Eredivisie experience in abundance, having represented PSV from 1994 until 1998.

• Zenden may also have some useful insights on Twente's tactical approach. The midfielder played under McClaren for two seasons at Middlesbrough FC between 2003 and 2005.

• Indeed, Zenden enjoyed an impressive stint under McClaren at the Riverside Stadium. He was the scorer of Boro's second goal in the 2003/04 League Cup final win over Bolton Wanderers FC, the club's first major trophy success, and was voted the fans' player of the year in 2004/05 – his second and final season on Teesside.

• Mamadou Niang, scorer of two goals in UEFA Champions League qualifying and three in Group D, is the only OM player to have found the net more than once in Europe this season.

• Romano Denneboom and Rob Wielaert, who hit two goals apiece, are Twente's top European scorers so far this campaign. Wielaert left the club for AFC Ajax during the January transfer window.

• Since a 1-0 home defeat by FC Zenit St. Petersburg on 9 March 2006 in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup Round of 16, Liverpool FC are the only team to have beaten Marseille in 12 European games at the Stade Vélodrome. The Reds have claimed two group-stage victories on OM's turf during that period, wins which came in the last two editions of the UEFA Champions League.

• Twente have lost their last eight away games in UEFA competition, a run which stretches back to a 2-1 win at KSP Polonia Warszawa on 20 September 2001.

• The second leg of this tie will be Marseille's 50th UEFA Cup fixture.

• Twente are just two strikes shy of their 100th UEFA Cup goal.

• Third in Ligue 1 last season, Marseille also finished third in UEFA Champions League Group D to qualify for the UEFA Cup Round of 32. Twente, who came fourth in the 2007/08 Eredivisie and earned a UEFA Champions League qualifying place via the end-of-season play-offs, were second in UEFA Cup Group A.

• Marseille's Ronald Zubar and Twente's Eljero Elia are within a booking of one-match suspensions.

• January squad changes:-
Marseille
Players added to squad list: Tyrone Mears, Renato Civelli, Guy Gnabouyou.
Players removed from squad list: Elamine Erbate, Elliot Grandin, Daouda Mbow.
Twente
Players added to squad list: Nikita Rukavytsya, Lesley Nahrwold, Alexander Bannink, Theoder Vogeslang.
Players removed from squad list: Rob Wielaert, Stein Huysegems, Tjarron Chery, Jules Reinenink, Paddy John.

• The winners of this tie will meet ACF Fiorentina or AFC Ajax in the Round of 16 on 12 and 18/19 March, playing the first leg at home.

• Therefore, there is the possibility of an all-Dutch affair in the next round if both Twente and Ajax come through their ties.