Udinese seek PAOK payback

Udinese Calcio will hope that history does not repeat itself as the UEFA Europa League round of 32 reunites them with PAOK FC.

Previous meetings
• Dušan Bajević's PAOK came out on top in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup second round, the sides' only previous games; Luigi De Canio's Udinese won the first leg 1-0, but PAOK levelled the tie in the second leg and went on to add two more goals without reply in extra time.

• All four goals were scored by substitutes: Massimo Margiotta in the first leg, Patricio Camps (2) and Nikolaos Frousos in the second.

• The teams for the first meeting in Udine on 24 October 2000 were:
Udinese: Turci, Bertotto, Sottil, Gargo, Sosa, Fiore (Pinzi 12), Muzzi, Helguera (Margiotta 80), Jørgensen, Bisgaard (Alberto 64), Díaz.
PAOK: Tochouroglou, Borbokis, Venetidis, Katsiambis, Bratić (Chasiotis 88), Camps (Kafes 69), Konstantinidis, Amponsah, Nalitzis (Okkas 90), Udeze, Tetradze.

• Giampiero Pinzi, who is still with Udinese 11 years on, played in both legs as did Pantelis Konstantinidis, now PAOK's sporting director.

Match background
• Udinese's record in six games against Greek sides is W4 D0 L2 (W3 D0 L0 at home). They have yet to concede at home against Greek opposition but have lost both of their previous two-legged ties against Hellenic opponents, to PAOK in 2000/01 and Panionios GSS in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup.

• PAOK's record in eight games against Italian sides is W1 D2 L5 (W0 D0 L4 in Italy). That Udinese success is their sole win against teams from Serie A.

• Udinese are unbeaten in three home games – two wins and a draw – since losing 2-1 to Arsenal FC in this season's UEFA Champions League play-offs. Their unbeaten record at the Stadio Friuli in this competition stretches back eight games – six wins, two draws – since a 2-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 2008/09 first round.

• This is Udinese's third tilt at the round of 32; they beat RC Lens in 2005/06 and KKS Lech Poznań in 2008/09.

• PAOK are unbeaten in 11 European games – won six, drawn five – including ten this season. Their five away games in 2011/12 have produced three wins and two draws.

• PAOK reached the round of 32 for the first time last season since the advent of the UEFA Cup group stage, bowing out with a 1-0 home defeat and 1-1 draw at PFC CSKA Moskva. They have yet to win a springtime European game in four attempts, their only previous efforts a 3-0 away defeat and 2-2 home draw against AC Milan in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals.

Team facts
• PAOK scored half of their ten group stage goals in the first 15 minutes.

• Udinese were the lowest-scoring side to make it through the group stage, scoring just six times.

• PAOK's Etto took on Udinese in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage, his GNK Dinamo Zagreb side losing 2-1 in Italy.

• Udinese's Dušan Basta took on Kostas Chalkias, Vladimir Ivić and Sakis Papazoglou when FK Crvena zvezda visited PAOK's city rivals Aris Thessaloniki FC in the 2007/8 UEFA Cup group stage; Papazoglou came off the bench to score twice in a 3-0 Aris win.

• PAOK's former president Theodoros Zagorakis (Bologna FC, 2004/05) and current president and CEO Zisis Vryzas (AC Perugia 2000-03, ACF Fiorentina 2004-05, Torino FC 2006) both played in Italy, as did Pablo García (Milan 2001, AC Venezia 2002).

• PAOK's Italian defender Bruno Cirillo counts Reggina Calcio, FC Internazionale Milano, US Lecce and AC Siena among his former clubs.

• Udinese defender Medhi Benatia and PAOK midfielder Bertrand Robert were team-mates at FC Lorient in 2007/08 though they never played in a competitive game together, Benatia missing much of the season with a serious knee injury.

• Capped 108 times by Romania as a midfielder, PAOK coach László Bölöni has been involved with three other clubs in this season's round of 32; he won domestic titles as a player with FC Steaua Bucureşti (1984-87) and as a coach at Sporting Clube de Portugal (2001-03) and R. Standard de Liège (2008-10).

• Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin spent the bulk of his playing days with Hellas-Verona FC. His coaching career included a stint in France at AS Monaco FC in 2005/06. Since then he has been in charge of US Città di Palermo and Parma FC, taking over for a second spell at Udinese in 2010. He successfully guided Monaco through the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage but missed out with Palermo the following season.

• Bölöni replaced Guidolin as Monaco coach in 2006 but lasted barely three months in the job.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will take either AZ Alkmaar or RSC Anderlecht in the round of 16 on 8 and 15 March, playing the second leg at home.

• Udinese have met neither of their potential opponents in UEFA competition.

• PAOK have never come across Anderlecht, but took on AZ in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup first round, losing 3-2 in Salonika and 2-1 in Alkmaar.

Competition statistics
• An updated version of the UEFA Europa League Statistics Handbook is available here:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=1750416.html