Villarreal v Osmanlıspor background

Villarreal will feel the momentum is with them as they meet Osmanlıspor again in UEFA Europa League Group L, the Yellow Submarine having come from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw in the teams' matchday three fixture.

Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in UEFA competition on 20 October, Raul Rusescu's quick-fire double insufficient to earn Osmanlıspor victory in their first encounter with Spanish opposition.

• Villarreal are yet to lose in five matches against Turkish teams (W2 D3 – W1 D1 in Spain).

Form guide
• Villarreal are unbeaten in their last ten UEFA Europa League group stage home games (W9 D1) – a run stretching back to a 1-0 loss to Salzburg in December 2009.

• Osmanlıspor's 2-1 reverse against Zürich on matchday two was their first European away defeat.

• UEFA Europa League semi-finalists last term, Villarreal have made it through to the round of 32 in all six of their previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage forays.

• This is Osmanlıspor's first UEFA group stage campaign; they previously competed in Europe under the name Ankaraspor.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Ankara to Villarreal is around 2,800km.

• Villarreal's Cédric Bakambu knows Turkish football from his time at Bursaspor in 2014/15.

• Osmanlıspor's Pierre Webó (Osasuna, Legánes, Mallorca), Tiago Pinto (Deportivo La Coruña, Santander) and Rusescu (Sevilla) have Spanish league experience.

• Former team-mates:
Cheick Diabaté (Osmanlıspor) & Alfred N'Diaye (Villarreal) – Nancy, 2009–10
Raul Rusescu (Osmanlıspor) & Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal) – Sevilla, 2013–14
Raul Rusescu (Osmanlıspor) & Mariano Barbosa (Villarreal) – Sevilla, 2014–15

Pierre Webó during his time in Spain with Mallorca©Getty Images

• Villarreal's Nicola Sansone joined the youth department at Bayern München in 2002, the same year Osmanlıspor's Erdal Kılıçaslan made the step up to Bayern's reserve team. Both players are from Munich.

The coaches
• Fran Escribá took charge of Villarreal in August. Originally a playing trainee at Valencia, he had coached the Mestalla club's youth teams and had worked as Quique Sánchez Flores's assistant at Valencia, Getafe, Benfica and Atlético Madrid before going it alone with Elche and – last term – Getafe.

• Hired in July 2015, Mustafa Akçay earned Osmanlıspor a European spot with a fifth-place finish last term. He had occupied the helm at several low-profile sides in Turkey before leading Trabzonspor through the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Akçay's run of 19 UEFA club competition games unbeaten – 12 with Trabzonspor and seven with Osmanlıspor – ended with the matchday two loss at Zürich.