FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.04.2008 11:03

Did you know that…

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This is the first time that Schalke 04 and FC Barcelona have met in an official game, yet there are still some curious facts and figures behind the tie.

Schalke 04 hasn’t reached the quarter finals of the European Cup for 49 years. The last time was in the 1958/59 season when they were knocked out by Atlético de Madrid. By contrast Barça has been in the quarter finals nine times with seven victories and two defeats.

The Germans got through the group stages with the lowest number of points at 8. They finished second behind Chelsea and ahead of Rosenborg and Valencia.

Barça finished strongly on top of group E and are one of the three sides still unbeaten in this term’s competition – the other two are Manchester United and Chelsea.

It is the second time Barça have come to Germany this season following their visit to Stuttgart in the group stage for a match they won 0-2.

The Gelsenkirchen outfit saw off Porto on penalties in the last 16 while the Catalans defeated Glasgow Celtic 4-2 on aggregate.

Valencia is the only team to have won at the Veltins-Arena in this season’s Champions League (0-1). Chelsea drew there (0-0), while Rosenborg (3-1) and Porto (1-0) were defeated.

Deco, missing from today’s game because of injury, won the Champions League with Porto in the Veltins-Arena in 2004. Samuel Eto’o has also won at Schalke 04’s ground with Mallorca in the 2001/02 Champions League. The Cameroon striker scored the only goal of the game. Thierry Henry also netted against Schalke 04 in the 2001/02 group stage, scoring twice in Arsenal’s 3-2 victory at Highbury.

Barça midfielder Leo Messi is the top goalscorer in the Champions League alongside Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo; both players have found the net on six occasions.

Barça has the highest average number of shots on goal at 7.88 per game.

Jermaine Jones, who will miss the match due to suspension, has received the most yellow cards of any player in the tournament at 5. He is also fifth in the table for fouls committed with 23, which gives him an average of one every 28 minutes.

Schalke players Kuranyi, Bordon, Rafinha and Grossmüller are one card away from suspension, while in the Barcelona team Messi and Touré are in the same position.