UEFA Europa League Preview – Liverpool v Atletico Madrid
Published April 29, 2010 | 
Liverpool FC must overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit if they are to have a chance of reaching the inaugural UEFA Europa League final, having lost 1-0 to Club Atlético de Madrid in last week’s tense semi-final opener.
• Diego Forlán bundled home the only goal of the match after nine minutes, and while Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said afterwards that the tie was now tilted “70-30 in Atlético’s favour”, the goalscorer said: “The goal is undoubtedly important but there are still 90 very difficult minutes ahead of us against an experienced team who will be at home.”
Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in last season’s UEFA Champions League group stage with both games ending in 1-1 draws, Simão scoring in the 83rd minute of the game in Spain after Robbie Keane had given Liverpool a 14th-minute lead.
• Liverpool went on to top Group D with 14 points and Atlético finished as runners-up on 12. Los Rojiblancos were knocked out by FC Porto on away goals in the last 16, while the Reds lost to Chelsea in the quarter-finals.
• The teams for the previous meeting at Anfield on 4 November 2008 were:
Liverpool: Reina, Agger, Keane (Ngog, 71), Gerrard, Riera (Babel, 61), Fabio Aurélio, Alonso, Arbeloa, Kuyt, Mascherano (Lucas, 77), Carragher.
Atlético: Franco, Antonio López, Pernía, Heitinga, Forlán (Agüero, 71), Raúl García, Maxi Rodríguez, Assunção, Maniche, Simão (Luis García, 90), Perea.
• Since that match, both John Heitinga and Maxi Rodríguez have moved to Merseyside, the former joining Everton and the latter Liverpool.
Match background
• Liverpool have lost the first leg of a UEFA competition tie 1-0 away from home on nine occasions, and have come through in all but one of those contests. Those overall triumphs include their 3-1 aggregate win against LOSC Lille Métropole in the last 16 of this season’s competition.
•The only team to beat Liverpool after winning the first leg 1-0 at home were SL Benfica in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League first knockout round, coming through 3-0 overall with Simão – now of Atlético – on the scoresheet at Anfield.
• Atlético have won the home opener of a two-legged tie 1-0 on eight occasions, going on to triumph overall five times.
Two of those contests were semi-finals, with Los Colchoneros coming through against KFC Uerdingen 05 in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup 4-2 on aggregate but going down to AFC Ajax in the 1970/71 European Cup after a 3-0 away defeat.
• Atlético have now played 18 games against English clubs, with the record W6 D8 L4 (W1 D4 L3 in England). That includes a 5-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur FC in the 1962/63 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final, which was held at
Rotterdam’s De Kuip stadium.
• Atlético’s only victory on English soil came in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup first round, where they won 2-0 at Leicester City FC on 30 September 1997.
• Liverpool overcame Spanish opponents – Barcelona on both occasions – in the semi-finals of the 1975/76 and 2000/01 UEFA Cups. Both times, they went on to win the trophy.
• Liverpool have now played 29 games against Spanish sides in UEFA club competition with the record W12 D10 L7 (W3 D6 L4 at home).
• Those statistics include victories in two European finals; Liverpool beat Real Madrid CF 1-0 to win the 1980/81 European Champion Clubs’ Cup and overcame Deportivo Alavés 5-4 with an extra-time golden goal in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup final.
• This is Atlético’s 11th appearance in a major UEFA club competition semi-final and their first since they lost to Parma FC in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup last four. Those ten previous semis have produced four wins and six defeats.
• This is Liverpool’s 15th major semi-final, with their most recent being a loss to Chelsea FC in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League last four. Their 14 previous semis have ended in 11 wins and three defeats.
• Atlético have only won two games since the start of the UEFA Champions League group stage, drawing eight and losing three. They had drawn their last four matches prior to the first leg against Liverpool, progressing through the
round of 16 and quarter-finals on away goals, drawing 2-2 away and 0-0 at home on both occasions.
• The 3-0 UEFA Champions League group-stage loss to FC Porto is Atlético’s only defeat in their last 21 European fixtures at the Vicente Calderón. However, their first-leg victory against Liverpool was their first win in seven European home ties since beating Panathinaikos FC 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League play-off round on 25 August.
Team facts
• Injury kept Liverpool striker Fernando Torres out of Liverpool’s two games against Atlético in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage, and he misses out again this time around, having been ruled out until the end of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
• Torres left for Liverpool in 2007 having scored 84 league goals in 214 games for Atlético. ‘El Niño’ (the kid) joined the Atlético youth ranks as a ten-year-old, was the top scorer for Spain at both the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship and 2002 U19 finals, made his Atlético debut at 17 and was captain by the age of 19.
• Rafael Benítez and Quique Sánchez Flores were at Real Madrid CF 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 club, Benítez in 1986 and Quique Flores in 2001.
• Benítez and Quique Flores’s only previous competitive meeting came when Madrid – featuring the Atlético coach as a player – beat the Liverpool manager’s Real Valladolid CF side 4-1 on 3 January 1996.
• Benítez’s nine games against Atlético as a coach in Spain ended W4 D1 L4 (W2 D0 L3 as the home coach), while he came up against Torres in one of those fixtures, a 3-0 win for Valencia CF on 20 September 2003.
• Two Atlético players have experience of Premier League football; José Antonio Reyes represented Arsenal FC (2004-07) while Diego Forlán played for Manchester United FC (2002-04).
• Reyes featured in two games against Liverpool in 2004/05, a 2-1 loss at Anfield and a 3-1 home win in which he scored his side’s second goal.
• Forlán played against Liverpool twice as a United player. Both games were league fixtures at Anfield which United won 2-1, the Uruguay striker scoring both his side’s goals in the first of those matches on 1 December 2002.
• Forlán also played alongside Pepe Reina in the latter’s final season at Villarreal CF; the Yellow Submarine finished third in the 2004/05 Liga campaign.
• Reina (FC Barcelona 1999-02 and Villarreal 2002-05) is one of five members of Liverpool’s European squad who have experience of Spanish football, the others being:
- Fernando Torres (Atlético 2000-07)
- Fábio Aurélio (Valencia 2000-06)
- Albert Riera (RCD Mallorca 2000-03, RCD Espanyol 2005-08)
- Yossi Benayoun (Real Racing Club 2002-05)
• Reina’s Spanish record against Atlético: W2 D1 L3 (W2 D1 L0 at home) Fábio Aurélio’s Spanish record against Atlético: W1 D2 L1 (W1 D0 L0 at home) Benayoun’s Spanish record against Atlético: W2 D2 L2 (W1 D1 L1 at home)
Riera’s Spanish record against Atlético: W1 D0 L2 (W0 D0 L2 at home)
• Liverpool left-back Fábio Aurélio played under Benítez at both Valencia and Liverpool, but was also coached by Quique Flores in 2005/06, his final season at Mestalla.
• The winners face either Hamburger SV or Fulham FC in the final at the Hamburg Arena on 12 May. Both Fulham and Hamburg started the season in the UEFA Europa League group stage, while Atlético and Liverpool finished third in their UEFA Champions League groups.
UEFA Europa League Preview – Fulham v Hamburg
Published April 29, 2010 | The draw at the Hamburg Arena, venue for the inaugural UEFA Europa League final, has left Fulham FC on top, but despite a change of coach on Monday, Hamburger SV will not give up their dream of a decider on home soil easily.
• There were no goals last week when the sides met in Germany, with Fulham defending heroically. Tellingly, Hamburg had five shots on goal while their guests had none, and were also well on top in terms of corners (7-1) and offsides (3-1).
Previous meetings
• Before last week, the sides had never met in Europe.
• Hamburg have now played 13 games against English sides in European club competition, with the record W4 D3 L6: (W0 D1 L4 in England). Those ties include a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest FC in the 1979/80 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final in Madrid.
• Those previous meetings include four two-legged knockout ties, of which HSV won three and lost one, going down 7-1 on aggregate to Liverpool FC in the 1977 UEFA Super Cup.
• Their best result against an English side – home or away – remains a 4-1 win against Burnley FC in the 1960/61 European Cup quarter-final second leg. Their worst was a 6-0 loss at Anfield in the aforementioned UEFA Super Cup
game.
• Hamburg have yet to win in five trips to England, avoiding defeat only once, with a 0-0 draw against Southampton FC at The Dell in a 1984/85 UEFA Cup first round opener.
• Fulham are playing against German opposition for the second round in succession, having beaten reigning Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 at home and 1-0 away in the quarter-finals.
• Fulham’s only other games against German opposition marked the end of their 2002/03 UEFA Cup campaign. They lost 2-1 at Hertha BSC Berlin before drawing 0-0 at Queens Park Rangers FC’s Loftus Road – their then temporary
home – in the third round.
• Thus Fulham’s record in five games against German sides reads W2 D2 L1 (W1 D1 L0 in London).
Match background
• Hamburg dismissed coach Bruno Labbadia on Monday in the wake of a 5-1 league defeat against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. His replacement for the remainder of the season will be Dutch skills coach Ricardo Moniz, who initially came to the club from Tottenham Hotspur FC along with Labbadia’s predecessor Martin Jol.
• Prior to last week’s stalemate in Hamburg, Fulham had only once drawn the first leg of a European tie away from home, holding Bologna FC 2-2 in one of the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals, before winning the return fixture 3-1 in
London.
• Hamburg have drawn 0-0 at home in the opening leg of three previous European ties, going on to win the most recent two of them (one on away goals). They were undone in the 1983 UEFA Super Cup, however, losing 2-0 at Aberdeen FC.
•This is Hamburg’s ninth appearance in the semi-finals of a major UEFA club competition. They have won five of their previous last-four ties and lost three, most recently bowing out to Werder Bremen in last season’s UEFA Cup.
• Fulham have long since eclipsed their best season in Europe, and have reached a major European semi-final for the first time in their history.
• Fulham remain unbeaten in 15 European home games (11 wins, four draws) since making their continental debut in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup. They have conceded more than one goal just once when holding European matches, drawing 2-2 with HNK Hajduk Split in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup first round, and have won their last four home fixtures in the UEFA Europa League.
• Hamburg’s 3-1 quarter-final win at R. Standard de Liège ended a run of three straight European away defeats.
Team facts
• Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will need little introduction to Fulham fans. He played in nine games against the Cottagers with Manchester United FC from 2001 to 2006 and garnered the record W7 D1 L1 (W2 D1 L0 away from home).
•The Dutch striker scored ten times in those fixtures, all but three of them against his future United team-mate and countryman Edwin van der Sar; seven at Old Trafford and three at Fulham.
• Fulham manager Roy Hodgson faced Hamburg in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, with his Viking FK side – which featured current Fulham defender Brede Hangeland – losing 2-0 at the Hamburg Arena.
• Piotr Trochowski is the only current Hamburg player who featured in that game.
• In total, prior to joining Fulham Hodgson had coached in five games against German opposition, with the record W2 D0 L3 (W2 D0 L0 as home coach).
•In his two two-legged ties against German opposition, Hodgson’s Halmstads BK side lost to 1. FC Dynamo Dresden in the 1977/78 European Cup first round while his FC Internazionale Milano charges lost the 1997 UEFA Cup final on penalties against FC Schalke 04 after the teams traded 1-0 home wins.
• Hamburg’s David Rozehnal and Fulham’s Damien Duff were team-mates at Newcastle United FC in 2007/08. Newcastle won 1-0 at Craven Cottage on 15 December 2007 in Rozehnal’s only game against the London side.
• HSV’s Marcus Berg and Fulham’s Erik Nevland were team-mates at FC Groningen in 2007/08.
• Hamburg’s Mladen Petrić and Fulham’s Pascal Zuberbühler played together at FC Basel 1893 from 2004 to 2006, winning the title in Petrić’s first season.
• Petrić – and indeed Züberbuhler – came up against Fulham’s first-choice keeper Mark Schwarzer in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, as Basel took on Middlesbrough FC. The English side lost 2-0 in Switzerland, and went a goal behind in the second leg only to win the match 4-1 en route to a final defeat.
• HSV defender Guy Demel spent 2000/01 in England with Arsenal FC, without making a single league appearance.
• The brother of Hamburg defender Jerome Boateng, Kevin-Prince Boateng, plays in the Premier League with Portsmouth FC.
• Hodgson was Petrić’s coach at Grasshopper-Club in 1999/2000, though the striker made just two substitute appearances in the league that campaign. The Zurich club finished fourth, with Hodgson moving on to FC København.
• Australian goalkeeper Schwarzer’s parents were born in Germany, and he played there with Dynamo Dresden (1994-95) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1995-96) before moving to England.
• Zuberbühler made 13 Bundesliga appearances while on loan from Basel at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2000/01. Hamburg midfielder Zé Roberto was among his team-mates at the BayArena.
• Fulham forwards Bobby Zamora (39) and Zoltán Gera (27) have committed more fouls than any other players in the UEFA Europa League. Zamora has also been ruled offside more than any player left in the last four – 22 in total.
• Hamburg’s David Jarolím has been fouled 30 times, more than any other player left in the competition.
• Zamora is the highest scoring active player in the competition with six goals, while team-mate Bjørn Helge Riise has made more assists than any other player in the semi-finals with four.
• As a Hamburg player between 1977 and 1980, Kevin Keegan helped HSV to the 1978/79 Bundesliga title, winning the Ballon d’Or that year and playing in the 1980 European Cup final. Keegan, who earned the nickname ‘Mighty Mouse’ in Germany, was Fulham manager in 1998/99, guiding the club to promotion from the English third tier before leaving to become England manager.
• The winners will face either Club Atlético de Madrid or Liverpool FC in the final at the Hamburg Arena on 12 May. Both Fulham and Hamburg competed in the UEFA Europa League group stage, while Atlético and Liverpool finished third in their UEFA Champions League groups.
The betinternet.com Daily Sports Betting Preview for Thursday, 29 April 2010
Published April 29, 2010 | The betinternet.com Daily Sports Betting Preview for Thursday, 29 April 2010:
Football Live Betting today for:
20:05 BST: UEFA Europa League, Fulham v Hamburg
20:05 BST: UEFA Europa League, Liverpool v Atl.Madrid
Tennis: ATP Rome Masters 3rd round, WTA Stuttgart 2nd Round and WTA Grand Prix de SAR Quarter Finals coming up today.
Snooker: World Championship Semi Finals today: Neil Robertson v Ali Carter at 14:00 BST & Graeme Dott v Mark Selby at 19:00 BST.
Darts: Week 12 in the Premier League from 19:00 BST tonight.
Golf: Open de Espana and Quail Hollow Championship both get underway today.
Horse Racing: Meetings today at Brighton, Folkestone, Hereford, Huntingdon, Redcar and Tipperary.
US Sports: NBA and NHL Playoffs continue again tonight, flanked by ten MLB games.
Good Luck with all your bets!
The betinternet.com Team
Champions League Preview – Barcelona v Inter
Published April 28, 2010 | FC Barcelona have already beaten FC Internazionale Milano once at home this season and they need a repeat performance if they are to claim a place in next month’s UEFA Champions League final.
• José Mourinho’s visitors may have performed well on their travels in recent rounds but they lost 2-0 at the Camp Nou in November and have never won a semi-final away leg in Europe’s elite club competition.
• The Italian champions hold the upper hand in the tie, however, despite Pedro Rodríguez’s 19th-minute strike at San Siro. Wesley Sneijder levelled on the half-hour, and second-half goals from Maicon (48) and Diego Milito (61) left Barcelona with plenty of work to do in the second leg.
• For two-time winners Inter, the goal is a first final appearance since 1972. Josep Guardiola’s Barcelona, by contrast, are looking to take the penultimate step towards becoming the first team since Inter’s neighbours AC Milan 20 years ago to win back-to-back European crowns.
• In a contest rich in sub-plots, Inter coach Mourinho returns once more to the club he served as assistant coach and he is not alone, with Nerazzurri players Samuel Eto’o, Thiago Motta and Ricardo Quaresma all having enjoyed spells at the Camp Nou.
Previous meetings
• These two sides need no introduction having met last autumn in the group stage. They drew 0-0 at San Siro on 16 September before reconvening in Barcelona on 24 November, the Catalan side prevailing through first-half strikes from Gerard Piqué and Pedro.
• The clubs had previously met in the UEFA Champions League second group stage in 2002/03. Barcelona were 3-0 winners at the Camp Nou on 18 February 2003. Goals from Javier Saviola, Phillip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert secured a ninth successive victory in the UEFA Champions League proper, still a competition record.
• The return the following week finished goalless and both teams progressed to the quarter-finals, Barcelona as group winners. Yet Inter went further that season, reaching the last four.
• Inter’s Javier Zanetti and Barcelona pair Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernández played in both matches, with Andrés Iniesta an unused substitute at San Siro.
Match background
• Barcelona have won four out of five European home games so far this season yet their recent semi-final record at the Camp Nou is less impressive.
• Oddly for a team famed for their attacking football – and who have averaged 2.6 goals per home game in the 2009/10 competition – the Catalan side have failed to find the net in their past four home semi-final matches in the UEFA Champions League.
• Barcelona have played in ten previous semi-finals and their record is five wins and five defeats:
2008/09 Chelsea FC: 0-0 (h), 1-1 (a)
2007/08 Manchester United FC: 0-0 (h), 0-1 (a)
2005/06 AC Milan: 1-0 (a), 0-0 (h)
2001/02 Real Madrid CF: 0-2 (h), 1-1 (a)
1999/2000 Valencia CF: 1-4 (a), 2-1 (h)
1993/94 FC Porto: 3-0 (h)
1985/86 IFK Göteborg: 0-3 (a), 3-0 (h, 5-4 pens)
1974/75 Leeds United AFC: 1-2 (a), 1-1 (h)
1960/61 Hamburger SV: 1-0 (h), 1-2 (a), 1-0 (replay)
1959/60 Real Madrid CF: 1-3 (a), 1-3 (h)
• Blaugrana coach Guardiola played in the Barcelona side that defeated Porto in the 1993/94 semi-final, which was a one-off match. There was no semi-final stage in the 1991/92 competition.
• The Spanish club were twice successful in UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals against Serie A sides, overcoming ACF Fiorentina in 1997 and Juventus in 1991.
• Overall Barcelona’s home record against Italian opponents is W9 D4 L2. They also have a decent record in two-legged ties against teams from the country, with five victories and three defeats.
• Barcelona have won 11 ties in UEFA competition when they have lost the first leg away from home – although they have gone down in the other 11, most recently in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup fourth round when a 1-0 defeat at Celtic FC preceded a goalless draw at the Camp Nou.
• Of the four times they have been defeated 3-1 in an away opener, Barcelona have lost two ties and won the other two, most recently in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals when they succumbed at Chelsea FC
but won 5-1 after extra time in Catalonia.
• Barcelona lifted the European Cup for the first time after beating Italy’s UC Sampdoria 1-0 in the 1992 final at Wembley. They lost the 1994 final 4-0 to Milan.
• Inter boast a decent record on their travels in this season’s UEFA Champions League, with three wins from five games.
• The Italian titleholders won at Chelsea and PFC CSKA Moskva in the preceding knockout rounds though they will not need reminding that their solitary defeat so far this campaign came at the Camp Nou.
• Inter have played in seven previous semi-finals in Europe’s elite club competition. Their record is four victories and three defeats:
2002/03 AC Milan: 0-0 (a), 1-1 (h)
1980/81 Real Madrid CF: 0-2 (a), 1-0 (h)
1971/72 Celtic FC: 0-0 (h), 0-0 (a, 5-4 pens)
1966/67 PFC CSKA Sofia: 1-1 (h), 1-1 (a), 1-0 (replay in Bologna)
1965/66 Real Madrid CF: 0-1 (a), 1-1 (h)
1964/65 Liverpool FC: 1-3 (a), 3-0 (h)
1963/64 BV Borussia Dortmund: 2-2 (a), 2-0 (h)
• Besides losing two European Cup semi-finals to Barcelona’s arch-rivals Real Madrid, Inter also succumbed to Madrid twice at the semi-final stage of the UEFA Cup in 1984/85 and 1985/86.
• On a happier note, the Nerazzurri achieved the first of their two European Cup successes by defeating Madrid 3-1 in the 1964 final in Vienna.
• The visitors’ record in Spain does not make good reading for Interisti: they have lost 12 of 17 matches with three wins and two draws.
• Inter also have a poor record in two-legged ties against teams from Spain, with four victories and nine defeats from 13 contests.
• However, the Italian champions have a formidable record when winning the first leg at home in UEFA competition, emerging triumphant in all but four of the 43 ties in which they have recorded an initial victory. They have already
eliminated Chelsea and CSKA this season after a first-leg win at San Siro.
• Inter have won 3-1 at home in a first leg five times and gone on to progress on four occasions. The one blip, however, came against a Spanish side as they succumbed to a 5-1 extra-time defeat at Real Madrid in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup semi-finals.
• Inter’s last two knockout games in Spain both brought UEFA Champions League elimination on away goals – against Valencia CF in the 2006/07 round of 16 and against Villarreal CF in the previous season’s quarter-finals. The Villarreal defeat was the last time the Milan club were knocked out after a home first-leg win.
• Their last win in Spain was their most spectacular, 5-1 at Valencia in the 2004/05 group stage. Iván Córdoba, Esteban Cambiasso, Marco Materazzi and Dejan Stanković all started the game with Zanetti featuring as a substitute.
• Inter coach Mourinho’s record in UEFA Champions League semi-finals is mixed. He led Porto past RC Deportivo La Coruña in 2004 but fell at this stage with Chelsea in 2005 and 2007.
• Mourinho is hoping to lead Inter to the UEFA Champions League six years after winning it with Porto. Only Ernst Happel (Feyenoord 1970, Hamburg 1983) and Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund 1997, FC Bayern München 2001) have won the European Cup as coaches of two different clubs. Bayern’s Louis van Gaal, a winner with AFC Ajax in 1995, is also attempting the feat this time round.
Team ties
• Mourinho served as an assistant to the late Sir Bobby Robson and Van Gaal at Barcelona from 1996 to 2000.
• As Chelsea manager Mourinho oversaw a 5-4 aggregate defeat of Barcelona in the 2004/05 first knockout round but suffered a 3-2 overall loss at the same stage the next season. The 2006/07 campaign brought another reunion, this time in the group stage, with Chelsea finishing above Barça after a 1-0 home win and 2-2 away draw.
• Guardiola played in Italy between 2001 and 2003, making 24 appearances in Serie A for Brescia Calcio and another four for AS Roma.
• Inter forward Diego Milito, 30, could line up against his 29-year-old brother Gabriel of Barcelona. The Argentinian siblings played together for two seasons with Real Zaragoza between 2005 and 2007.
• Only three sets of brothers have played against each other in UEFA club competition: Johannes (Celtic) and Atli Edvaldsson (Valur Reykjavík) in the first round of the 1974/75 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, Ronald (PSV Eindhoven)
and Erwin Koeman (KV Mechelen) in the 1988 UEFA Super Cup and John Arne (Roma) and Bjørn Helge Riise (Fulham FC) in this season’s UEFA Europa League group stage.
• During his three-year spell at Inter, Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimović hit 57 goals in 88 Serie A appearances and six in 22 UEFA Champions League games.
• An unused substitute for Barcelona at San Siro in September, Maxwell was also with Inter for three years from 2006 to 2009. The Brazilian full-back made 79 appearances in Serie A and scored two goals.
• Eto’o spent five seasons with Barcelona from 2004. The Cameroon striker hit 109 goals in 144 league appearances, including 30 last season. In the UEFA Champions League he registered 18 in 43 games, scoring Barcelona’s first goals in the final triumphs of 2006 and 2009.
• Motta made 96 league appearances for Barcelona between 2002 and 2007, scoring six goals. He was an unused substitute in the Blaugrana’s 2-1 UEFA Champions League final defeat of Arsenal FC in 2006.
• Quaresma spent 2003/04 at the Camp Nou, making 22 Liga appearances and scoring once.
• Thierry Henry scored twice for Arsenal in a 5-1 win at Inter in the 2003/04 group stage. The France forward previously suffered a UEFA Cup semi-final defeat at Inter’s hands when playing for AS Monaco FC in 1996/97.
• Former Barcelona forward Jordi Cruyff – son of Camp Nou favourite Johan – hit the opening goal for Deportivo Alavés when they became the only Spanish team to beat Inter in Milan, prevailing 2-0 in a UEFA Cup fourth-round tie in 2000/01.
• Barcelona’s shoot-out record in UEFA club competitions is:
5-4 v Lech Poznań, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup second round
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs’ Cup semi-final
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round
• Inter’s record is:
1-4 v FC Schalke 04, 1996/97 UEFA Cup final
5-3 v Grazer AK, 1996/97 UEFA Cup second round
3-4 v Aston Villa FC, 1994/95 UEFA Cup first round
5-4 v Celtic FC, 1971/72 European Champion Clubs’ Cup semi-final
• The victorious team will advance to the final at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid on 22 May where they will play either Bayern or Olympique Lyonnais.
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