Schalke look to wipe out Twente

FC Schalke 04 will look to maintain their flawless home record against Dutch opponents when FC Twente come to Gelsenkirchen for their UEFA Europa League round of 16 decider.

• Luuk de Jong's penalty (61) gave Twente a first-leg lead, following a game played in good spirit in Enschede. The home fans even unveiled a huge banner behind the goal which read, in Twente red and Schalke blue: "Two clubs, two colours, one passion."

Previous meetings
• The sides' only previous meeting came in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage, when Steve McClaren's Twente beat Fred Rutten's Schalke 2-1, Rob Wielaert (2) and Kenneth Perez (54) putting the Enschede side in front before Gerald Asamoah (77) struck back.

• Rutten knew all about Twente. He had spent his entire playing career at the club between 1977 and 1992, and went on to be their coach, leaving in the summer of 2008 to join Schalke, and bringing Twente's Dutch international midfielder Orlando Engelaar with him.

• The teams for that game on 3 December 2008 were:
Twente: Boschker*, Stam (Wellenberg 62), Wielaert, Douglas*, Braafheid, Brama*, Perez (Tioté 74), T Janssen, Arnautović (Denneboom 90), Nkufo, Elia.
Schalke: Neuer, Rafinha, Höwedes*, Westermann, Krstajić, Ernst, Jones* (Halil Altıntop 68), Engelaar, Asamoah, Kuranyi, Farfán*.

* registered to play in this season's UEFA Europa League.

Match background
• Schalke's six games against Dutch sides have ended W2 D1 L4 (W2 D0 L0 at home – W0 D1 L4 in the Netherlands). Both of those home wins were by 3-0 margins, and should they continue that trend, they would reach the quarter-finals in some comfort.

• Twente's 16 games against German sides have ended W4 D5 L7 (W3 D3 L3 at home – W1 D2 L4 in Germany). Twente won 2-0 at SV Werder Bremen on their last visit to Germany, in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage. Prior to that, they had not won - and had scored only once - on German soil.

• Schalke are unbeaten at home in Europe this season, recording four wins and a 0-0 draw against AEK Larnaca FC. That match, on 3 November 2011, saw them keep their only clean sheet at home in eight European outings.

• Twente have lost just once in four European away games this season – 1-0 at Fulham FC.

• Twente are playing in the round of 16 for the second season in succession, having reached the quarter-finals at FC Zenit St Petersburg's expense last time out before losing to Villarreal.

• UEFA Champions League semi-finalists last season, Schalke last played in the round of 16 in this competition in 2005/06, beating US Città di Palermo en route to losing to Sevilla FC in the semi-finals.

Team facts
• Schalke midfielder Joel Matip will be available following a decision by the UEFA Appeals Body to grant him a stay of execution. The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body had earlier rejected a protest by Schalke against Matip's one-match suspension for his dismissal in last week's first leg.

• Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is the highest scorer left in the competition with six goals, one less than RSC Anderlecht's Matías Suárez – the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League's top scorer, even though his RSC Anderlecht were eliminated in the round of 32.

• Huntelaar played in the Netherlands for PSV Eindhoven, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, sc Heerenveen and AFC Ajax.

• Huntelaar's three goals against FC Viktoria Plzeň in the round of 32 second leg saw him become Schalke's all-time top scorer in UEFA competitions with 13 goals in 17 matches, breaking Ebbe Sand's record of 10 goals scored in 31 matches between 1999 and 2006.

• Twente have scored seven of their 17 UEFA Europa League goals this season between the 31st minute and the half-time interval.

• Twente have had the most attempts on target in this year's competition: 57.

• Twente's Swedish international midfielder and winger Emir Bajrami celebrates his 24th birthday on the eve of the game.

• Schalke striker Jefferson Farfán played in the Netherlands for PSV Eindhoven from 2004-08.

• Huub Stevens replaced Ralf Rangnick as Schalke coach after matchday one. The Dutchman coached Schalke from 1996 to 2002, winning the 1997 UEFA Cup and German Cups in 2001 and 2002. Originally a defender for Fortuna Sittard and PSV Eindhoven, the Dutchman was named by fans as the coach of Schalke's team of the century in 1999.

• After Co Adriaanse's dismissal as Twente coach in January, McClaren returned to take the reins for a second time. The former Middlesbrough FC, England and VfL Wolfsburg boss led the club to 2009/10 Dutch title – the first in their history.

• McClaren took on Schalke once during his time as Wolfsburg coach, recording a 2-1 Bundesliga home win on 11 September 2011.

• Twente assistant coach Youri Mulder played up front for Schalke from 1993-2002 and was was assistant and interim coach at the club from 2008-09.

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