Barcelona's pursuit of a second UEFA Champions League crown in three seasons continues at FC Schalke 04, a club who have not travelled this far in Europe's élite club competition for almost five decades.
• Schalke's last European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final appearance was in 1958/59 and then as now, their opponents were Spanish. They will hope for better luck this time having gone down 4-1 on aggregate to Club Atlético de Madrid that season.
• The sides have never before met in UEFA club competition, although Barcelona have considerably more experience of competing at this stage of the European Cup. This is their tenth quarter-final overall and they have fared well down the years, recording seven wins and only two defeats.
• The Catalan club also advanced to the final in both 1991/92 and 1993/94, seasons when there was no quarter-final due to the changes in the competition's format.
• Schalke reached the last eight by defeating FC Porto on penalties in the first knockout round. Kevin Kuranyi's fourth-minute goal gave them a 1-0 advantage after the first leg which they held for 86 minutes of the return before Porto's Lisandro López levelled the aggregate scores. Mirko Slomka's side then emerged 4-1 winners in a penalty shoot-out where goalkeeper Manuel Neuer saved two spot-kicks.
• The Bundesliga team had previously finished second in Group B behind Chelsea FC, with a record of W2 D2 L2 – the lowest points haul (eight) of the 16 teams that advanced.
• Barcelona, by contrast, won Group E with four wins and two draws and they remain one of three sides still unbeaten in this campaign, together with Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC.
• Frank Rijkaard's team beat Celtic FC 4-2 on aggregate in the first knockout round. After trailing twice, they eventually prevailed 3-2 in the first leg in Glasgow thanks to goals from Lionel Messi (2) and Thierry Henry. Xavi Hernández struck the only goal of the return after just three minutes.
• Schalke's home record against visitors from Spain includes three wins and two draws in seven fixtures. They have lost to Spanish opponents in Gelsenkirchen already this season, succumbing 1-0 to Valencia CF in their opening match of the group stage in September.
• By contrast Barcelona have already prevailed on German soil in 2007/08, beating VfB Stuttgart 2-0 on Matchday 2 through goals from Carles Puyol and Messi.
• Schalke have won three and lost two of their five previous two-leg contests against sides from Spain. Their most recent opponents were Sevilla FC in a 2005/06 UEFA Cup semi-final that Schalke lost 1-0 on aggregate. After a goalless draw in Gelsenkirchen, the Bundesliga team lost the return to an extra-time goal from Antonio Puerta.
• In the Round of 32 of the same campaign, Schalke had beaten Barcelona's city rivals RCD Espanyol 5-1 on aggregate, winning 2-1 at the Arena AufSchalke and then 3-0 in Spain.
• Their most famous victory against Spanish rivals came in the semi-final of their triumphant 1996/97 UEFA Cup campaign where they overturned a 1-0 first-leg loss to CD Tenerife with a 2-0 home success, Thomas Linke and Marc Wilmots getting the goals.
• Barcelona's record in two-leg knockout ties against German teams is nine wins and four losses.
• The most recent knockout tie was against BV Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Super Cup when Barcelona, then UEFA Cup Winners' Cup holders, beat the reigning European champions 2-0 at home in January 1998 before drawing 1-1 at the Westfalenstadion two months later.
• Barcelona also beat Werder Bremen 3-2 on aggregate to win the UEFA Super Cup in 1992/93 and lifted the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1979 after a 4-3 final victory against another German team, TSV Fortuna Düsseldorf.
• As coach of the Netherlands, Rijkaard twice faced Germany in friendly games, winning one and drawing one. As a Dutch international, he played against Germany five times, winning two matches, drawing two and losing one.
• In his club career, Rijkaard struck against German opposition on his first appearance in UEFA competition, scoring in a 2-1 victory for AFC Ajax against FC Bayern München in the European Cup on 5 November 1980. His overall record against German sides with both Ajax and AC Milan was five wins, two draws and one defeat.
• Barcelona playmaker Deco was in the FC Porto team that won the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League at the Arena AufSchalke. Deco scored Porto's second goal in a 3-0 victory against AS Monaco FC in the final on 26 May 2004.
• Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o scored the 66th-minute winner when his former club RCD Mallorca beat Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen in the UEFA Champions League first group stage in September 2001. The following month, he was in the Mallorca team defeated 4-0 at home in the return fixture.
• Schalke forward Peter Lřvenkrands found the net in both legs of former club Rangers FC's 3-3 aggregate draw with Spanish side Villarreal CF in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League first knockout round – but his team were eliminated on goal difference.
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