England face Spain barrier

Spain will look to avenge a defeat at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship as they meet England for a ninth time at this level in the first round of Group B games.

• Of those eight previous U21 games, three were competitive fixtures and five friendlies. England have had the better of them with the record W5 D1 L2.

• The sides first met at this level in the two-legged 1984 European Championship final; Mel Sterland scored the only goal as England won 1-0 in Seville with Mark Hateley and Howard Gayle making it 2-0 in the return fixture in Sheffield.

• In their most recent competitive meeting, Stuart Pearce's England beat Spain 2-0 at the 2009 finals in Sweden, Fraizer Campbell (67) and James Milner (73) scoring in Gothenburg.

• The teams for that game on 18 June 2009 were:
Spain: Asenjo, Nacho Monreal, Javi García, Torrejón, Javi Martínez (Xisco 69), Raúl García, Bojan (Capel 57), Jurado, Azpilicueta, Mario Suárez (Pedro Léon 81), Adrián López.
England: Hart, Cranie, Cattermole, Onuoha, Milner (Gardner 84), Agbonlahor (Campbell 39), Noble, Johnson (Walcott 62), Muamba, Richards, Gibbs.

• Jack Rodwell and Danny Rose were unused substitutes for England.

• The teams' five friendly meetings were:
06/02/07 England 2-2 Spain, Derby
16/11/04 Spain 1-0 England, Alcala
27/02/01 England 0-4 Spain, Birmingham
08/09/92 Spain 0-1 England, Burgos
18/02/97 Spain 1-2 England, Burgos

• A Luis Milla-led Spain defeated Noel Blake's England 3-1 in the semi-finals of last summer's UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

• Liverpool FC's Dani Pacheco opened the scoring while further goals from Keko and Sergio Canales sealed the win for La Roja. John Bostock's strike briefly pulled the game back to 2-1.

• The teams for that game in Saint-Lo, France, on 27 July 2010 were:
Spain: Sánchez, Montoya, Planas, Bartra, Pulido, Romeu, Keko, Thiago, Moreno (Rochina 58), Canales (Koke 69), Pacheco (Muniain 75).
England: Rudd, Clyne, James, Caulker, Baker (Bostock 18), Mellis (Noble 59), Delfouneso, Nouble, Cruise, Thompson, Donaldson (Phillips 71).

• Bojan Krkić scored the only goal of the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final between the sides in Tournai, Belgium.

• The sides for that game on 13 May 2007 were:
Spain: De Gea, Moisés, Morgado, Rochela, Camacho, Ximo Forner (David González 78), Bojan, Mérida (Nacho 80), Porcar, Falqué (Ismael López 79), David Rodríguez.
England: Steele, Ofori-Twumasi, Mattock, Pearce, Spence, Welbeck, Rose (Gosling 56), Murphy, Moses (Franks 76), Woods, Porritt (Plummer 60).

• On 21 October 2009, Club Atlético de Madrid's Álvaro Domínguez and Chelsea FC's Daniel Sturridge, who spent the second half of 2010/11 on loan at Bolton Wanderers FC, came face to face at Stamford Bridge in a 4-0 UEFA Champions League group stage win for the London club. David de Gea was on the Atlético bench.

• Domínguez made his senior debut for Atlético against Liverpool in a 1-1 UEFA Champions League encounter on 22 October 2008.

• Mikel San José started his professional career with Liverpool before moving on to Athletic Club.

• Jack Wilshere featured in both legs of Arsenal FC's UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against FC Barcelona this season. The Catalans had Bojan and Thiago Alcántara (second leg) on the bench.

• Juan Mata was in the Valencia CF side that lost 1-0 to Manchester United FC in UEFA Champions League Group C this season; Chris Smalling was on the bench for Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

• Both players featured along with Spain's Jordi Alba when the teams shared a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in December 2010.

• Spain coach Milla featured in Valencia's 3-0 UEFA Champions League defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 8 December 1999.

• On 20 October 1998, Milla lined up in Valencia's 0-0 draw at Liverpool in a UEFA Cup fourth round first leg.

• As a player, Pearce famously converted a penalty in England's 4-2 shoot-out win against Spain after a goalless draw in the EURO '96 quarter-final at Wembley. He also appeared in a 1-0 friendly loss in Spain in September 1992.

Spain news

• Milla's squad arrived on Wednesday in Silkeborg, their base for the finals, after a nine-day training camp at Las Rozas.

• Spain's preparations included a 1-1 friendly draw with Russia in Soria on Sunday, Ander Herrera scoring for the home side before Pavel Yakovlev's second-half equaliser.

• Milla has several players with fitness concerns. Mata resumed training with the squad on Thursday but Iker Muniain was absent because of illness. Thiago Alcántara, meanwhile, is suffering from some pain in his left foot.

• Left-back José Ángel spoke with confidence about the Spaniards' prospects when he said: "Our group with England, Czech Republic and Ukraine is very tricky, but all the players are confident of winning the Championship. I think we have a great team."

England news

• England flew into Billund airport on Wednesday and had their first practice session in the pouring rain at FC Fredericia's ground – the squad's training base for the tournament.

• The England party arrived in Denmark a few men light. Jordan Henderson joined up with the squad later having stayed in England to complete his transfer to Liverpool FC, while Phil Jones' talks over a prospective move to Manchester United FC delayed his arrival.

• Defender Kieran Gibbs, meanwhile, was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury aggravated in Sunday's 2-0 friendly win against Norway, with Pearce taking the decision not to replace the Arsenal FC man.

• England had a training camp in southern Spain before the Norway fixture in which Sturridge and Rose got on the scoresheet, and Pearce has declared himself "delighted" ahead of the finals. "The preparation has been nigh on identical [to 2009 when England reached the final] and I have been delighted with their standard of training. I think this group can get better and better."