Basel hold aces for Valencia visit

Valencia CF must go for broke if they are to make it to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, having lost the first leg of their tie against FC Basel 1893 3-0 in Switzerland.

• In a match played behind closed doors, Matías Delgado struck twice in the first half and Valencia's task became even more difficult when Valentin Stocker broke away to score a third in second-half added time.

Previous meetings
• Rafael Benítez's Valencia got the better of Christian Gross's Basel over the course of two games in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions league first group stage. John Carew scored twice as Valencia won the home match 6-2, but his side then drew 2-2 in Basel, Ivan Ergić levelling after Valencia's Roberto Ayala had been dismissed on 88 minutes.

• The teams at Mestalla on 2 October 2002 were:
Valencia: Cañizares, Pellegrino, Fábio Aurélio, Ayala, Albelda, Carew, Baraja (Mista 46), Angulo, Vicente (Garrido 60), Aimar (Juan Sánchez 71), Curro Torres.
Basel: Zuberbühler, Quennoz (Ergić 62), Esposito (Duruz 79), H Yakin, Barberis, Giménez (Varela 46), M Yakin, Cantaluppi, Haas, Atouba, Rossi.

• Now Basel coach, Murat Yakin captained the Swiss club in both of those fixtures.

• The sides also met in the second round of the 1965/66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – the non-UEFA affiliated precursor to the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League – Valencia winning 3-1 in Switzerland and 5-1 in Spain.

Match background
• No side has overturned a three-goal deficit to win a tie since the advent of the UEFA Europa League.

• Valencia went into the first leg having gone nine European games unbeaten (W7 D2) since opening their group stage campaign with a 3-0 home loss to Swansea City AFC. They had also won all five of their UEFA Europa League away games this season, and were unbeaten on the road in eight UEFA matches (W7 D1).

• At this stage of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League, Valencia recovered from a 2-1 defeat at AZ Alkmaar to win the return 4-0.

• Basel are unbeaten in their last five games (W3 D2) since transferring from the UEFA Champions League to the UEFA Europa League. They have not lost a European fixture by a margin of more than three goals since a 7-0 defeat at FC Bayern München in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League round of 16, 35 matches ago.

• Since beating Olympique de Marseille 2-0 in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup final Valencia have reached three UEFA quarter-finals; they lost to Chelsea FC in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League and Club Atlético de Madrid in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League, but beat AZ in this competition in 2011/12 – before losing to Atlético in the semi-finals.

• Having lost to Celtic FC in the 1973/74 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final and Middlesbrough FC at the same stage of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, Basel won a UEFA last-eight tie at the third time of asking last season, beating Tottenham Hotspur FC on penalties en route to a semi-final loss to Chelsea FC.

Team facts
• Giovanni Sio is the only Basel player with Liga experience, having represented Real Sociedad de Fútbol from 2007 to 2009 before moving to Switzerland to join FC Sion.

• Valencia boast Swiss talent in the form of central defender Philippe Senderos, who started his career with Servette FC (2001-03) before heading abroad.

• Basel are one of three sides in the quarter-finals who have yet to win a major UEFA club trophy along with AZ and Olympique Lyonnais. Basel lost to Aston Villa FC over two legs in one of the three 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals.

• They are one of three domestic champions remaining in the competition, along with FC Porto and Juventus.

• Marco Streller has scored 23 goals in UEFA club competition, more than any other player in the quarter-finals.

• Valencia (2004) are one of four previous UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League winners in the quarter-finals along with Porto (2003, 2011), Sevilla FC (2006, 2007) and final hosts Juventus (1977, 1990, 1993).

• Valencia have scored the most goals (18) and won the most games (7) since the start of this season's group stage of the eight quarter-finalists. FC Salzburg – eliminated in the round of 16 – are the current leaders both of those categories with 22 goals and eight wins.

• Valencia have been shown the most red cards (three) of any side left in the competition.

• Valencia's Fede Cartabia has been fouled 32 times since the start of the group stage, more than any player still involved.

• Valencia's Paco Alcácer and Sevilla's Kevin Gameiro are the highest scoring players left in the competition, with four goals each since the start of the group stage – four fewer than the overall top scorer, Salzburg's Jonatan Soriano.

• The UEFA Europa League's two most successful member associations this season, Spain and Portugal, boast two surviving clubs apiece, with Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and France taking one club through.

• All the four surviving teams that crossed over from the UEFA Champions League round of 32 – Juventus, SL Benfica, Basel and Porto – are yet to lose in their five games.

Coach information
• Valencia dismissed Miroslav Djukić in December after six months at the helm.

• Juan Antonio Pizzi is now in charge at Valencia, having returned to Spain – for whom he made 22 international appearances – after establishing himself as a coach in South America. Born in Argentina, the striker played for CD Tenerife and Valencia before winning a title, two Spanish Cups and the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with Barcelona. Following spells with Porto and Villarreal CF, he hung up his boots in 2002, and briefly played polo.

• Capped 49 times as a central defender by Switzerland, coach Murat Yakin was born in Basel but started his playing career with Grasshopper Club. He played for VfB Stuttgart and Fenerbahçe SK, but finished his career at Basel – where his brother Hakan Yakin also played. He got his first senior coaching appointment in 2009, leading FC Thun and later FC Luzern before taking charge of Basel and leading them to the 2012/13 Swiss title – his sixth in total following five triumphs as a player.

Shoot-out record
• Valencia's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
3-4 (away) v FC Steaua Bucureşti, 2004/05 UEFA Cup round of 32
4-5 (neutral) v FC Bayern München, 2000/01 UEFA Champions League final
5-4 (away) v Celtic FC, 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round
5-4 (neutral) v Arsenal FC, 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup final

• Basel won their only previous UEFA competition penalty shoot-out, 4-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur FC in last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.