Atlético v Lokomotiv Moskva background

Two-time UEFA Europa League winners Atlético Madrid continue their pursuit of a record-equalling third triumph with a round of 16 tie against Russian Premier League leaders Lokomotiv Moskva, who are competing at this stage of the competition for the first time.

• Having crossed over from the UEFA Champions League after finishing third in their group, Atlético easily disposed of Danish champions FC København in the round of 32, winning 4-1 in Copenhagen and 1-0 in Madrid with UEFA Europa League scoring specialist Kevin Gameiro on target in both games.

• Lokomotiv also won both legs of their round of 32 tie against Nice – 3-2 in the south of France and 1-0 in the Russian capital – after topping Group F (ahead of København) in the autumn.

Previous meetings
• The two clubs have met once in European competition, sharing a 3-3 draw in Moscow on matchday one of the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Peter Odemwingie (two) scored for Lokomotiv, with star South American strikers Sergio Agüero (two) and Diego Forlán replying for Atlético.

• Atlético have never lost in Russia (W3 D2) but in four games against Russian teams in Madrid they have notched as many defeats as victories (two apiece) – although they have prevailed in the two most recent, against Zenit and Rostov in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Antoine Griezmann scored both goals, the second in added time, as Atlético completed the double over Rostov in 2016/17 with a 2-1 home win.

• Lokomotiv have yet to win in six UEFA outings on Spanish turf, losing five. The only time they escaped defeat – indeed their only goals – came in the Spanish capital when they drew 2-2 with holders Real Madrid in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League second group stage.

Form guide
• UEFA Europa League victors in 2010 and 2012, Atlético are making their first appearance in the competition in five years. Since then Diego Simeone's side have appeared in two UEFA Champions League finals and reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals in two other seasons.

• Atlético have won two of their four European matches in their new Estadio Metropolitano, losing the first of them 2-1 to Chelsea on matchday two of this season's UEFA Champions League. That, however, is the Madrid club's only defeat in 15 European home games (W11 D3).

• Atlético have lost only once at home in ten UEFA Europa League knockout phase encounters – 0-2 to Russian club Rubin Kazan in 2012/13. They went eight games undefeated at their former Vicente Calderón home during the competition's knockout rounds (W5 D3) en route to lifting the trophy in 2009/10 and 2011/12. Their round of 16 record in Madrid is W1 D1.

• Atlético finished third in the Spanish Liga last season, and this is only the second time in eight attempts that they have failed to progress beyond the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. However, on the only other occasion, in 2009/10, they went on to win the inaugural UEFA Europa League

• Lokomotiv have been defeated just once in their last nine European away fixtures – all in the UEFA Europa League. They drew away at FC København (0-0) and Sheriff (1-1) in this season's group stage before confirming their position as section winners with a 2-0 victory at FC Zlín on matchday six. They then won the first leg of their round of 32 tie, coming from two goals down to win 3-2 at Nice thanks to a Manuel Fernandes hat-trick.

• Lokomotiv qualified for this competition by winning the 2016/17 Russian Cup – with a 2-0 victory against Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast in the final – and have now progressed from the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage four times out of five.

• The Moscow club are through to the round of 16 for the first time at the fourth attempt, having lost in the round of 32 to Sevilla in 2005/06 (UEFA Cup), Athletic Club in 2011/12 and Fenerbahçe in 2015/16. Their most successful European campaigns were in 1997/98 and 1998/99, when, under current coach Yuri Semin, they reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup two years running.

Links and trivia
• Atlético are the only former UEFA Europa League winners present in the round of 16, although two other remaining participants, CSKA Moskva and Zenit, have lifted the same trophy in its former guise as the UEFA Cup.

• Lokomotiv are one of only four teams in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 to have never played in a European final. The others are RB Leipzig, Viktoria Plzeň and Lyon.

• Lokomotiv are also one of only four clubs remaining in the competition that have never previously been involved in the UEFA Europa League round of 16. Leipzig, Milan and Arsenal make up the quartet.

• Stefan Savić captained Montenegro in a 2-0 away defeat against Russia in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying in October 2015; Igor Denisov played 90 minutes for the hosts.

• Gameiro's two goals in the round of 32 lifted his all-time UEFA Europa League goal tally to 19, the previous 17 having all been scored for Sevilla, with whom he was a three-time winner of the competition. Only three other players – Radamel Falcao (30), Aritz Aduriz (25) and Óscar Cardozo (20) – have registered more goals in the competition, group stage to final.

• Manuel Fernandes has scored two hat-tricks in this season's UEFA Europa League, the first on matchday two in a 3-0 home win against Zlín. He is the seventh player to have scored more than one hat-trick in the competition and the fourth to have done so in the same season. Radamel Falcao holds the record with three in one campaign, for Porto in 2010/11.

• Fernandes is one of three Lokomotiv players – along with Solomon Kverkvelia and Igor Denisov – to have played every minute of this UEFA Europa League campaign. Vladislav Ignatyev has started all eight matches.

• Suspended for next match if booked: Vladislav Ignatyev, Taras Mikhalik (Lokomotiv).

The coaches
• Diego Simeone has been the Atlético coach since December 2011, and has added five trophies to the club's collection, including the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League, as well as steering the Madrid club to the UEFA Champions League finals of 2014 and 2016. The combative ex-Argentina midfielder also had two spells at Atlético as a player, winning the Spanish double in 1995/96.

• Now 70, Yuri Semin took charge of Lokomotiv for a fourth time in August 2016, having lifted the club's only two Russian titles during his second stint from 1992 to 2005, and promptly steered the side to Russian Cup glory. He also played for the club, from 1975 to 1977, and coached Dynamo Kyiv to the 2008/09 Ukrainian league title in the first of two spells there.