Heynckes returns as holders look to bounce back

The UEFA Europa League holders will hope their home form will help them bounce back from defeat by Aris Thessaloniki FC when Bayer 04 Leverkusen, led by a coach with strong connections to the Spanish capital, come to meet Club Atlético de Madrid in Group B.

Previous meetings
• The clubs are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.

• Atlético's record in 28 games against German sides reads W13 D4 L11 (W8 D1 L3 in Madrid).

• Atlético won an additional nominal home fixture against a German side, beating SC Motor Jena – now FC Carl Zeiss Jena – 4-0 in the return leg of the 1961/62 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final. The game was played in Malmo, Sweden, after the Motor Jena players had been refused visas to enter Spain. Atlético went on to beat ACF Fiorentina in the final.

• Leverkusen's 19 games against Spanish sides ended W6 D3 L10 (W2 D1 L6 in Spain).

• They have played three previous games in the Spanish capital against Real Madrid CF, losing two – including a 3-0 defeat against a side led by their current coach, Heynckes – but drawing the most recent one. They also lost 2-1 to Los Merengues in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League final in Glasgow.

• Leverkusen lifted their only European trophy, the 1987/88 UEFA Cup, after beating another Spanish club, RCD Espanyol 3-2 on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

Match background
• Atlético have not lost in five European home games since a 3-0 reverse against FC Porto in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage. Their unbeaten run at home in the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League stands at 14 games and dates back to a 3-1 semi-final loss to Parma FC on 6 April 1999.

• Leverkusen have lost just one of their last five European away fixtures, 3-2 at Hamburger SV in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16. However, they have won only once in four previous UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage fixtures on their travels, beating FC Zürich 5-0 in that same edition of the competition.

Team facts
• Atlético coach Quique Sánchez Flores was a Spanish title-winner with Real Madrid as a right-back in 1994/95, and reached his peak as a coach this year when, following spells with Getafe CF, Valencia CF and SL Benfica, he steered the Rojiblancos to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup.

• Quique Flores's only prior meeting with German opposition as a coach came when his SL Benfica side drew 1-1 at Hertha BSC Berlin in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage.

• The heaviest defeat of his European playing career came against a German team when he was in the Valencia side thrashed 7-0 at Karlsruher SC in the second leg of a 1993/94 UEFA Cup tie. Valencia had won the home leg 3-1.

• A fine striker in his day, Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes won the 1972 UEFA European Championship and 1974 FIFA World Cup with West Germany, and also claimed four domestic titles, a German Cup and the 1974/75 UEFA Cup with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. As a coach, he won two league titles with FC Bayern München and led Madrid to 1997/98 UEFA Champions League glory. He took charge at Leverkusen in June 2009.

• Heynckes knows plenty about Spanish football having coached Athletic Club and CD Tenerife as well as Real Madrid. This will be his first competitive game in the Spanish capital since leaving Los Merengues in 1998.

• Both his Liga derbies against Atlético as Madrid coach in 1997/98 ended in 1-1 draws.