* galatasaray boss rijkaard came up against atlético ten times in the spanish liga during his spell as fc barcelona coach. his record against the rojiblancos was w3 d3 l4 (w1 d2 l2 in madrid).
* rijkaard also faced atlético as a player in 1987/88, with his real zaragoza side losing 2-0 at la romareda.
* rijkaard and atlético coach quique flores met six times when the latter was in charge of getafe cf (2004/05) and valencia cf (2005/06 and 2006/07). each coach recorded two wins, with the other two games drawn.
* leo franco has been first-choice goalkeeper at galatasaray since joining the club from atlético in the summer. the argentinian custodian spent five years at the vicente calderón following spells with mérida cf and rcd mallorca.
* galatasaray striker milan baroš and atlético defender tomáš ujfaluši are long-standing colleagues with the czech republic national team, having both earned 78 caps for their country.
* ujfaluši was in the czech team eliminated from uefa euro 2008 by turkey after surrendering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat in geneva. galatasaray midfielder arda turan scored the first turkey goal in a match that also featured his club-mates servet çetin, hakan balta and mehmet topal.
* as they prepare for their 204th european game, atlético are four goals shy of their 350th strike in uefa club competition.
* the tie concludes in istanbul on 25 february with the winners to face the victors of the tie between everton and sporting clube de portugal in the round of 16 on 11 and 18 march, playing the first leg at home.
atlético suspended: none misses next match if booked: álvaro domínguez players added to squad: david de gea, eduardo salvio players removed from squad: maxi rodríguez, florent sinama pongolle, roberto, cléber santana
galatasaray suspended: none misses next match if booked: emre aşık, harry kewell players added to squad: lucas neill, giovani dos santos, sinan osmanoğlu players removed from squad: tobias linderoth, alparslan erdem, shabani nonda, semih kaya, sadrettin kocaoğlu, serdar eylik