VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach face another daunting Group C assignment when they face FC Barcelona for the first time on matchday two.
• André Schubert’s men opened their group stage programme with a 4-0 defeat at Manchester City and must now seek an improved result against a visiting Barcelona side who overwhelmed Celtic FC 7-0 in their first fixture.
• The match marks a homecoming for Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen who began his career with Gladbach.
Match background
Borussia Mönchengladbach
• Gladbach had mixed fortunes at home in last season’s UEFA Champions League, losing to Manchester City FC (1-2), drawing with Juventus (1-1) and beating Sevilla FC (4-2). The victory over Sevilla was their first home win over Spanish opposition for 30 years.
• Gladbach had previously lost to Sevilla in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (2-4 aggregate). They went down 3-2 in the home leg, where Thorgan Hazard scored one of the goals against a Sevilla side containing Aleix Vidal.
• The Foals’ overall home record against Spanish clubs is W3 D2 L2.
Barcelona
• Barcelona lost just one of five matches on the road in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League (W2 D2 L1).
• In last year’s group stage Barcelona collected four points against Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen. They earned a 2-1 comeback victory at home – Sergi Roberto and Luis Suárez scoring – then drew 1-1 in Germany with Lionel Messi on target. Christoph Kramer was in the Leverkusen side.
• Barcelona have won only one of their last six matches against Bundesliga opposition in Germany. However, they did beat Juventus in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final in Berlin.
• The Spanish side’s overall record away against German teams is W9 D10 L8.
Coach and player links
• Luis Enrique played for Spain against Germany in a 1-1 draw at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. As a Barcelona player he struck in a 2-0 home win over Borussia Dortmund in the two-legged 1997 UEFA Super Cup (aggregate 3-1).
• Luis Enrique found the net again in a 1-1 draw at Hertha BSC Berlin in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second group stage, and in both matches when Barcelona traded 2-1 home wins with Leverkusen in the 2001/02 first group stage.
• Ter Stegen was born in Moenchengladbach and made 108 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia’s first team between 2011 and 2014.
• Paco Alcácer struck a hat-trick past Yann Sommer in Valencia CF’s 5-0 victory over the Swiss goalkeeper’s FC Basel 1893 side in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals – a result that overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit. Jérémy Mathieu was also in that Valencia side.
• Ivan Rakitić was in the Basel senior squad between 2005 and 2007 but never played a first-team game with Sommer, who had yet to step up from the reserves.
• Rakitić played for FC Schalke 04 from 2007 to 11 and faced Gladbach four times (W2 D1 L1). He lost 1-0 on his only visit to Monchengladbach in November 2009 but made amends by scoring twice in a 3-1 home win in April 2010.
• Kramer was in the Germany side that beat Messi and Javier Mascherano’s Argentina 1-0 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final.
• Messi scored for Argentina in a 4-0 victory over Fabian Johnson’s USA in the semi-final of the 2016 Copa América.
• Oscar Wendt helped FC København earn a 1-1 home draw with Barcelona in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Álvaro Domínguez faced Barcelona twice (W1 D1) while at Club Atlético de Madrid (2008–12).
• Have played together:
Álvaro Domínguez Arda Turan (Club Atlético de Madrid, 2011–12)
Christoph Kramer Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany)
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