barcelona coach josep guardiola's first four appearances in europe's elite club competition as a player came against german opposition in fc hansa rostock and 1. fc kaiserslautern in autumn 1991 – barcelona, that season's eventual winners, won both home legs but lost both away.
gross was in charge of the basel side whose 1-1 draw at barcelona in last season's group stage helped salvage some pride after a 5-0 home reverse.
the stuttgart coach's overall record in the competition against spanish sides, with basel, previously grasshopper-club and now stuttgart, is: w1 d3 l5. that solitary victory came against rc deportivo la coruña in the 2002/03 second group stage – 1-0 in switzerland.
hleb rejoined stuttgart for a second spell after agreeing to a season-long loan from barcelona last summer. he made 19 league appearances for the catalan side in 2008/09 following his transfer from arsenal fc.
hleb and jens lehmann were in the arsenal team that lost the 2006 uefa champions league final to barcelona, together with thierry henry. it was a particularly unhappy occasion for lehmann who became the first player sent off in a european champion clubs' cup final after bringing down eto'o in the 18th minute.
thomas hitzlsperger and lehmann were in the germany side who lost the final of uefa euro 2008 to spain. xavi hernández, andrés iniesta and puyol featured for the opposition.
ciprian marica scored the only goal of romania's 1-0 friendly victory against spain in cadiz in november 2006.
marica was on the losing side when fc shakhtar donetsk suffered a 5-4 aggregate reverse against daniel alves's sevilla in the 2006/07 uefa cup round of 16.
pavel pogrebnyak scored in each leg as fc zenit st. petersburg overcame villarreal cf on away goals in the 2007/08 uefa cup round of 32, the russian side winning 1-0 at home and losing 2-1 away.
khalid boulahrouz made six liga appearances for sevilla during a season-long loan in 2007/08. boulahrouz was in the chelsea team that earned a 1-0 home win and 2-2 away draw with barcelona in the 2006/07 uefa champions league group stage.
