AaB ready to throw everything at City

Aalborg BK face an uphill task if they are to deny Manchester City FC their third Danish scalp of the season, with a 2-0 loss in England last week having left them needing a big result in their UEFA Cup Round of 16 decider.

• First-half goals from Felipe Caicedo and Shaun Wright-Phillips put City firmly in control of the tie, with AaB failing to make the most of their chances as they returned to Manchester following their 2-2 UEFA Champions League group-stage draw at Manchester United FC earlier this season.

• Prior to this campaign, City had never played a Superligaen side but broke their Danish duck when they met FC Midtjylland in the second qualifying round. They traded 1-0 home defeats with Midtjylland before prevailing 4-2 on penalties.

• City then overcame FC København in the Round of 32, drawing 2-2 in Denmark and winning 2-1 at home. Thus their record against Danish sides now reads P5 W3 D1 L1. Their two away games in Denmark ended in a draw and a win.

• AaB are the second non-English side to face both City and their local rivals Manchester United in competitive games in the same season. Juventus accounted for both Manchester clubs in the 1976/77 UEFA Cup, beating City 2-1 on aggregate in the first round and then overcoming United 3-1 overall in their next tie. AaB lost 3-0 at home to United in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage but earned a creditable 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.

• AaB have never won against an English side, with their record reading P6 W0 D2 L4. Their home games against English teams have produced a goalless draw and a defeat. They have never scored at home against an English club.

• Prior to this season, City manager Mark Hughes had only encountered Danish opposition four times in competitive games as a player and coach – all at international level. In the preliminary round of the 1988 UEFA European Championship, Wales won 1-0 at home and lost 1-0 away against Denmark. In the qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2000™, with Hughes in the dugout, Wales won 2-1 away and lost 2-0 at home to the Danes.

• AaB's Swedish coach Magnus Pehrsson had never come up against English opponents prior to the first leg. The former Djurgårdens IF FF midfielder was coach at GAIS Göteborg before agreeing to become AaB's third coach of the season. Pehrsson briefly played in England for Bradford City AFC, making one loan appearance in the 1996/97 season.

• Former Scottish international Bruce Rioch – who had replaced title-winning boss Erik Hamrén after his move to Rosenborg BK – was in charge at AaB for the start of the UEFA Champions League group stage, overseeing the 3-0 loss to United and quitting after a 6-3 defeat by Villarreal CF.

• He was replaced by his assistant Allan Kuhn on a temporary basis, with the caretaker overseeing an impressive 12-game unbeaten run which included the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.

• City boast Danish talent in the form of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, whose father Peter was a team-mate of Hughes's at Manchester United.

• City have lost just once in ten European games since their home defeat against Midtjylland, going down 3-1 at Real Racing Club in their final UEFA Cup group-stage game.

• That loss to Racing was their only defeat in their last nine European away trips.

• Defeat at City ended AaB's five-match unbeaten European run, and their record of scoring at least twice in their previous six matches.

• United are the only team to have beaten AaB at home this season, with their other five home games producing four wins and a draw.

• City have only once lost a European tie after winning the home leg, losing 2-0 at Juventus in the first round of the 1976/77 UEFA Cup after a 1-0 victory at Maine Road.

• AaB have won one European tie despite trailing from the away leg, winning 3-0 at home against HJK Helsinki in last season's UEFA Cup second qualifying round after losing 2-1 in Finland.

• City defender Berti Glauber and AaB counterpart Michael Beauchamp were team-mates at German side 1. FC Nürnberg between 2006 and 2008.

• AaB midfielder Andreas Johansson spent two-and-a-half years in the Premier League with Wigan Athletic FC between 2005 and 2007. He played two games against the Blues at the City of Manchester Stadium, a 1-0 FA Cup loss and a 1-0 Premier League win.

• Norwegian defender Kjetil Wæhler also played in England, representing Wimbledon FC from 1999 to 2002.

• AaB's Jamaican striker Luton Shelton scored the opening goal in Sheffield United FC's 2-1 2007/08 FA Cup fourth round win at home against City. His time with the Blades ran from January 2007 to July 2008.

• AaB are one of four sides left in the UEFA Cup who qualified for European competition as domestic league champions, the others being Galatasaray AŞ (Turkey), FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) and FC Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia).

• Shaun Wright-Phillips's strike against AaB saw him move to the top of City's top scorers list for the season with three goals since the first round of the UEFA Cup.

• Anders Due's two goals against RC Deportivo La Coruña in the Round of 32 saw him take over as AaB's top European scorer this season with three goals since the start of the UEFA Champions League group stage. He also scored twice in qualifying, but these goals do not count towards his total.

• City qualified for the UEFA Cup through the UEFA Fair Play system and reached the Round of 32 as Group A winners. They beat AaB's Danish rivals København to reach the Round of 16, drawing 2-2 in Copenhagen and winning 2-1 at home.

• Danish champions in 2007/08, AaB's third-place finish in Group E of the UEFA Champions League earned them a place in the UEFA Cup Round of 32. They made light work of Depor in coach Pehrsson's first games in charge, winning 3-0 at home and 3-1 in Spain.

• AaB's only penalty shoot-out in UEFA competition to date ended in a 4-2 spot-kick defeat by HNK Hajduk Split in the first round of the 1987/88 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The tie had finished 1-1 on aggregate.

• The 4-2 success at Midtjylland in this season's UEFA Cup second qualifying round was City's first penalty shoot-out in UEFA competition.

• AaB's Thomas Enevoldsen misses the game through suspension, with team-mates Jeppe Curth and Michael Jakobsen within a booking of a ban.

• City's Elano Blumer, Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta will miss their team's next European game if they are booked.

• The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals takes place in Nyon on 20 March, exactly two months before the final at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul on 20 May.