Twente tilt at windmills against Villarreal

FC Twente will need to work wonders if they are to redeem themselves after a 5-1 defeat to Villarreal CF in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final.

• By the time Marc Janko struck for Twente in second-half added-time, they had conceded goals by Carlos Marchena (23), Borja Valero (43), Nilmar (45+1, 81) and Giuseppe Rossi (55).

• Matchday 11 had the most goals per game in the UEFA Europa League this season, with the four matches producing an average of 4.75 goals each. The previous high was Matchday 5 in the group stage, with an average of 3.38 goals per game.

• Three sides have recovered from four-goal first-leg deficits to win UEFA club competition ties:
1) FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 6-2 Leixões SC
Leixões SC 5-0 FC La Chaux-de-Fonds
1961/62 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round
2) Queens Park Rangers FC 6-2 FK Partizan
FK Partizan 4-0 Queens Park Rangers FC
1984/85 UEFA Cup second round
3) VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-1 Real Madrid CF
Real Madrid CF 4-0 VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach
1987/88 UEFA Cup third round

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

• Villarreal have played seven games against Dutch sides with the record W4 D2 L1 (W2 D1 L0 in the Netherlands).

• Villarreal's 6-1 home win against Eredivisie side NAC Breda in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League play-off round remains their joint-largest margin of victory in a UEFA club competition game. Rossi scored three goals over the two legs of that tie.

• Twente's six previous games against Spanish sides have ended W3 D0 L3 (W3 D0 L0 at home).

Match background
• Villarreal are unbeaten in seven UEFA Europa League games since going down 1-0 at PAOK FC in this season's group stage. They have won all seven of their European games at El Madrigal this season, and are yet to lose at home under Juan Carlos Garrido, whose European coaching career began with a 2-2 home draw against VfL Wolfsburg in the club's final continental tie of last season.

• Twente are unbeaten in six European home games – two wins and four draws – since a 1-0 loss against Fenerbahçe SK in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Villarreal are unbeaten in their last three away fixtures – two wins and a draw.

Team facts
• Luuk de Jong is Twente's top UEFA Europa League scorer this season with three goals since the Tukkers entered the competition in the round of 32.

• Santi Cazorla, Borja Valero, Bruno Soriano, Rossi and goalkeeper Diego López have featured in all 11 of Villarreal's games since the start of the group stage. Diego López and FC Porto goalkeeper Helton are the only players to have featured in all 990 minutes so far.

• Falcao's Matchday 11 hat-trick for Porto saw him overtake Villarreal's Rossi to return to the top of the UEFA Europa League scorers standings with ten goals to Rossi's nine.

• The first of Villarreal's five first-leg goals was their 150th in UEFA club competition in what was their 103rd European fixture.

• Villarreal are three goals shy of scoring their 100th in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. This is their 56th game.

• In Twente boss Michel Preud'homme's only previous coaching experience of Spanish opposition, his R. Standard de Liège side lost 1-0 at home and 3-0 away against RC Celta de Vigo in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup. Villarreal defender Ángel López – who is not registered for this fixture due to injury – captained Celta in both legs of that game.

• During his long career as a goalkeeper he was on the losing side in three matches against Spanish sides; his Standard team lost 2-1 against FC Barcelona in the 1982 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, staged at Camp Nou, and with Belgium he was involved in a 2-1 defeat by Spain at the 1990 World Cup finals and a 4-1 home reverse in a EURO' 96 qualifier. The latter fixture was Preud'homme's 58th and final appearance for his country.

• Twente midfielder Denny Landzaat was a member of the AZ Alkmaar side that eliminated Villarreal in the 2004/05 quarter-finals, opening the scoring in a 2-1 away win and featuring as AZ drew the second leg 1-1.

• Twente forward Arnold Bruggink played in Spain with RCD Mallorca in the 2003/04 season.

• All four UEFA Europa League quarter-finals pit sides that have been in this competition since the start of the group stage (FC Dynamo Kyiv, Porto, PSV Eindhoven and Villarreal) against clubs that transferred from the UEFA Champions League group stage (FC Spartak Moskva, Twente, SC Braga and SL Benfica).

• The overall winners will take on the victors of the contest between Porto and Spartak in the semi-finals on 28 April and 5 May, playing the second leg at home. The winners of that tie will be the nominal home side in the final at the Dublin Arena on 18 May.

Penalties
• Twente have had one continental game settled by spot kicks, in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32, losing 7-6 at home against Olympique de Marseille after their tie ended 1-1 on aggregate.

• Villarreal have won both of their UEFA club competition penalty shoot-outs, beating Torino FC (4-3 at home) and Club Atlético de Madrid (3-1 away) in UEFA Intertoto Cup games in 2002 and 2004 respectively.