Debutants vie for Super Cup crown

Rafael Benítez will be looking to secure his first European trophy as FC Internazionale Milano coach when the UEFA Champions League holders face UEFA Europa League winners Club Atlético de Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup at Stade Louis II in Monaco.

UEFA Super Cup pedigree
• It is the first time since the 1998 edition, contested by Chelsea FC and Real Madrid CF, that both teams are competing in the fixture for the first time.

• Benítez has enjoyed UEFA Super Cup success before, his Liverpool FC side beating PFC CSKA Moskva 3-1 in 2005.

• Benítez had visited the Stade Louis II with Liverpool in November 2004, his side losing 1-0 to AS Monaco FC in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Benítez earned the right to play in the 2004 UEFA Super Cup after winning the UEFA Cup with Valencia CF, but left for Anfield before the game. In the event, Valencia – under Claudio Ranieri – beat FC Porto 2-1.

• Should Inter win, Benítez would become the sixth coach – and the first Spaniard – to win two UEFA Super Cups. The current five are:
– Raymond Goethals (RSC Anderlecht 1976 and 1978)
– Arrigo Sacchi (AC Milan 1989 and 1990)
– Sir Alex Ferguson (Aberdeen FC 1983 and Manchester United FC 1991)
– Louis van Gaal (AFC Ajax 1995 and FC Barcelona 1997)
– Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan 2003 and 2007)

• He would also be the third coach (after Sir Alex and Van Gaal) to win it with different clubs.

• Inter's Thiago Motta and Samuel Eto'o played in the 2006 UEFA Super Cup with Barcelona, losing 3-0 to Sevilla FC.

• Dejan Stanković was in the S.S. Lazio team which overcame Manchester United FC 1-0 in the 1999 UEFA Super Cup while three years later a Real Madrid CF team including Esteban Cambiasso defeated Feyenoord 3-1.

• Inter defender Maicon played for Monaco from 2004 until he headed for San Siro in 2006.

• This is the first time two Spanish coaches have contested a UEFA Super Cup, though in 1993 a pair of Italians met when Nevio Scala's Parma FC saw off Fabio Capello's Milan over two legs. Five years before two Dutchmen had been on opposite sides as Aad de Mos's KV Mechelen overcame Guus Hiddink's PSV Eindhoven.

• Since the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was abolished in 1999, the UEFA Champions League holders have won half of the ten UEFA Super Cup editions.

• Inter's city rivals Milan are the most successful club in Super Cup history, their 3-1 win against Sevilla in 2007 making the Rossoneri the first team to lift the trophy five times. Juventus, twice, S.S. Lazio and Parma are the other Italian winners.

• Atlético's local rivals Real Madrid broke their duck with a 3-1 win against Feyenoord in 2002 having been beaten in 1998 and 2000. Barcelona are Spain's most successful Super Cup representatives with three triumphs, while Valencia have two titles and Sevilla one.

Match background
• This will be the clubs' first meeting in UEFA competition.

• Inter's 37 games against Spanish opponents in UEFA club competition (W13 D11 L13) feature one final played on neutral territory. They claimed the European Champion Clubs' Cup for the first time in 1964 with a 3-1 win against Real Madrid in Vienna.

• Inter ended a run of five UEFA club competition games against Spanish opponents without a win by beating Barcelona 3-1 in last season's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg. They went on to win the tie 3-2 on aggregate en route to winning the title.

• Atlético beat Italian opponents to win their first major European title, defeating ACF Fiorentina 3-0 at Stuttgart's Neckarstadion in the 1961/62 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final after a 1-1 draw at Hampden Park, Glasgow, forced a replay.

• They have not played an Italian side since losing 5-2 on aggregate to Parma in a 1998/99 UEFA Cup semi-final – they eliminated AS Roma in the previous round.

• Atlético's record in 14 UEFA club competition games against Italian opposition is W6 D2 L6.

• Benítez's record in 14 European games against Spanish sides – two with Valencia and 12 with Liverpool – is W7 D5 L2.

• Quique Sánchez Flores's seven games against Italian teams as a player – with Valencia, Madrid and Spain Under-21s – ended W2 D1 L4. Those defeats included a 5-1 UEFA Cup home loss to SSC Napoli in 1992 in which Quique Flores was sent off.

• As a coach for Valencia and SL Benfica, his record in six games against Serie A opposition is a more balanced W2 D2 L2.

Team ties
• Benítez will be playing his third successive UEFA club competition game against Atlético after his Liverpool side lost out to the Spanish team on away goals in last season's UEFA Europa League semi-finals. Diego Forlán was the scourge of the Reds, scoring the only goal in Madrid then hitting the decider in a 2-1 extra-time defeat at Anfield.

• Liverpool and Atlético drew 1-1 twice in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage, leaving Benítez with a W1 D2 L1 European record against the club.

• Benítez and Quique Flores were at Real Madrid in 1994/95, the former as reserve-team coach and the latter as a right-back. Both started their coaching career in the youth ranks at the Santiago Bernabéu, Benítez in 1986 and Quique Flores in 2001.

• The coaches' only previous competitive meeting prior to last season came when Madrid – featuring the Atlético coach as a player – beat Benítez's Real Valladolid CF side 4-1 on 3 January 1996.

• Benítez's record against Atlético as a coach in Spain with CF Extremadura, CD Tenerife and Valencia was W4 D1 L4.

• During his time as Valencia coach Quique Flores overcame Inter on away goals in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League first knockout round.

• Motta was briefly an Atlético player, making six league appearances – three as a substitute – in 2007/08. He was at Barcelona from 1999 to 2008.

• Tomáš Ujfalusi represented Fiorentina from 2004 until moving to the Spanish capital in 2008.

• Tiago is on loan at Atlético from Juventus, for whom he made 42 league appearances after joining in 2007. The midfielder initially signed for the Madrid club on loan in January, going on to make 18 Liga appearances last term, before a new one-year loan deal was agreed on 16 August.

• Four Inter players spent time with Atlético's local rivals Real Madrid: Esteban Cambiasso (1996-2004), Eto'o (1997-2000), Walter Samuel (2004-05) and Wesley Sneijder (2007-09). None played alongside Atlético's former Real Madrid players José Manuel Jurado (2005-06) and José Antonio Reyes (2006-07) during their time at the Santiago Bernabéu.

• Inter's Diego Milito played for Real Zaragoza from 2005 to 2008, while Victor Obinna spent last season on loan at Málaga CF.

• Eto'o spent 12 years in Spain, representing CD Leganés, Real Madrid, RCD Espanyol, RCD Mallorca and Barcelona before joining Inter in summer 2009.