Rapid rematch for Brugge and Valencia

Club Brugge KV and Valencia CF are preparing to meet for the second time in as many seasons, with the Belgian side seeking their first post-Christmas win in Europe since 2004 in the first leg of this UEFA Europa League round of 32 contest.

Previous meetings
• The teams met for the first time last term in the UEFA Cup group stage. Nikola Žigić's headed goal earned Valencia a 1-1 home draw – and, with it, a place in the round of 32 – after Antolin Alcaraz had given the visitors, then coached by Jacky Mathijssen, the lead.

• The teams for that game on 4 December 2008 were:
Valencia: Guaita, Torres, Maduro (Albiol, 64), Marchena, Morientes (Fernandes, 73), Del Horno, Žigić, Helguera, Hernández, Hugo Viana, Jaume (Vicente, 55).
Club Brugge: Stijnen, Ciman, Klukowski, Clement, Daerden, Dirar, Sonck (Akpala, 82), Simaeys, Vargas (Van Heerden, 90), Geraerts, Alcaraz.

Match background
• Club Brugge have played 18 games against Spanish sides and their record reads W4 D6 L8 (W4 D2 L3 at home, with no wins in their last five). Valencia's record from seven games against Belgian opponents is W3 D2 L2 (W1 D1 L1 in Belgium).

• Brugge have not won a springtime European fixture since a 1-0 success at home against Debreceni VSC on 26 February 2004 set them up for a narrow UEFA Cup third-round victory by that same scoreline. They lost both legs of the ensuing fourth-round meeting with FC Girondins de Bordeaux that season, and then lost 2-1 in both legs of their 2005/06 UEFA Cup round of 32 meeting with AS Roma.

• Valencia were eliminated from last season's round of 32 on away goals following 1-1 and 2-2 draws with FC Dynamo Kyiv.

• Valencia are unbeaten in 18 European fixtures – including all 16 of their games under coach Unai Emery. Their nine away matches in that period have netted them five wins and four draws.

Team facts
• Valencia's Dutch international Hedwiges Maduro played under Brugge coach Adrie Koster for a short spell at AFC Ajax (October-December 2007) prior to his mid-season departure for the Mestalla.

• Maduro was a team-mate of Brugge's Wesley Sonck at Ajax in the 2004/05 campaign.

• Sonck does not have happy memories of facing Valencia striker David Villa. In October 2008, it was Villa's 88-minute goal that condemned Belgium to a 2-1 home defeat by Spain in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in which Sonck had given the hosts an early lead. Villa then scored twice in Spain's 5-0 win in the return last September, with another Valencia player, David Silva, also striking twice.

• The tie concludes in Valencia on 25 February with the winners to face the victors of the contest between FC Twente and Werder Bremen in the round of 16 on 11 and 18 March, playing the first leg at home.

Club Brugge
Suspended: Nabil Dirar
Misses next match if booked: Jonathan Blondel, Michael Klukowski
Players added to squad: Peter Van der Heyden, Daan Van Gijseghem, Maxime Lestienne
Players removed from squad: Jeffrey Jared, Koen Daerden

Valencia
Suspended: Éver Banega
Misses next match if booked: Bruno Saltor
Players added to squad: none
Players removed from squad: Asier del Horno, Miku, Nacho González, Sergio Garabato