Standard not flagging as HSV approach

R. Standard de Liège took the lead in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie at Hamburger SV, and can feel optimistic about the return fixture despite having gone on to lose 2-1 in Germany.

• Dieudonné Mbokani (31) powered a header in to put Standard ahead at the Hamburg Arena, and though a Mladen Petrić penalty (42) and a Ruud van Nistelrooy strike (45) gave HSV the lead before the break, the Belgian side were not outclassed.

Previous meetings
• Last Thursday's opener was the first time the sides had met in Europe. Hamburg have played eight games against Belgian sides, with the record W3 D2 L3 (W0 D1 L2 in Belgium).

• Hamburg beat Standard's rivals RSC Anderlecht 2-0 in the final in Amsterdam to win the 1976/77 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and eliminated the same side in this season's UEFA Europa League round of 16 to set up this tie against Standard.

• Standard have played 24 games against German teams, with the record W6 D6 L12 (W3 D3 L4 at home). They have not won in eight matches against German opposition, home and away, since a 1-0 home victory against Karlsruher SC at the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup final stage.

Match background
• Standard are unbeaten in their last four European home games (three wins and a draw), with a 3-2 loss to Arsenal FC in the UEFA Champions League group stage their only home defeat in their last 12 continental fixtures.

• Hamburg have lost four of their five away games since the start of the UEFA Europa League group stage, with a 1-0 win at Celtic FC their only success on the road. They are currently looking to end a run of three straight away defeats.

• Hamburg last reached the quarter-finals of a major UEFA club competition last season, when they beat Manchester City FC en route to a semi-final defeat by Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen.

• Standard's last quarter-final appearance came in 1981/82 when they overcame FC Porto in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup on the way to a 2-1 final loss against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

Team facts
• Following his goal in the first leg, Mbokani is Standard's leading scorer in Europe this season with four goals. Axel Witsel, Igor De Camargo and Milan Jovanović are all one behind on three.

• Joris Mathijsen is the only Hamburg player to have featured in all 11 of their games since the start of the UEFA Europa League group stage, the Dutch defender having featured in all 990 minutes of their campaign.

• Marcus Berg is Hamburg's leading scorer in Europe this term with four goals since the start of the group stage. Marcell Jansen and Petrić are one strike behind him on three.

• Hamburg have played more UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League games than any other side left in the competition: 121.

• Hamburg's Czech defender David Rozenhal played in Belgium with Club Brugge KV from 2003-05, where he won two domestic league titles and the 2003/04 Belgian Cup.

• Hamburg's Ruud van Nistelrooy never faced Standard with any of his previous clubs, but has come up against Belgium in three friendly games with the Netherlands, featuring in a loss and two draws. Van Nistelrooy came on as a substitute in a 1-0 home loss to Belgium in Eindhoven in May 2004 in which Standard's Grégory Dufer was an unused reserve.

• Standard's Witsel and Steven Dufour featured in Belgium's 2-0 friendly reverse against Germany in Nuremberg in August 2008. Hamburg's Piotr Trochowski was in the starting lineup for Germany while team-mate Jansen came on for the last eight minutes.

• In a previous spell as Standard coach, Domenico D'Onofrio led the club to two draws – and an away goals victory – against German side VfL Bochum 1848 in the first round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup.

• Four of the sides in the quarter finals competed in the UEFA Europa League group stage: SL Benfica, Fulham FC, Hamburg and Valencia CF. The other four transferred from the UEFA Champions League group stage: Club Atlético de Madrid, Liverpool FC, Standard and VfL Wolfsburg.

• By a quirk of the draw, all four quarter-final ties feature one side from the UEFA Champions League group stage and one from the UEFA Europa League.

• The winners of this tie face the victors in the tie between Fulham and Wolfsburg in the semi-finals on 22 and 29 April, playing the first leg at home. The winners of that tie will be the nominal away team in the final in Hamburg on 12 May.

Penalties
• Standard have never participated in a shoot-out in UEFA club competition.

• Hamburg lost their only European penalty shoot-out 4-3 on home turf against Dutch opponents Sparta Rotterdam following a 2-2 aggregate draw in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup first round.