Atlético battle for Udinese redemption

Club Atlético de Madrid will look to avenge a 2-0 matchday three defeat as they take on Udinese Calcio again in a meeting of the top sides in UEFA Europa League Group I. Previous meetings • When the teams met for the first time in UEFA competition on matchday three, it was Atlético who created the majority of the chances, but late goals from Mehdi Benatia (88) and Antonio Floro Flores (90+4) secured all three points for Udinese. • In Udinese's only previous games against Spanish opposition, they lost 4-1 away and 2-0 at home against FC Barcelona in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage. • Atlético's 16 matches against Italian sides ended W7 D2 L7 (W3 D0 L3 in Madrid). Atlético beat ACF Fiorentina after a replay in the 1962 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, and overcame FC Internazionale Milano 2-0 in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup. Match background • Defeat at Udinese was only Atlético's second loss in ten European games – the other coming against Aris Thessaloniki FC during last season's UEFA Europa League group stage – a match that ended 2-0. The remaining eight fixtures produced four wins and four draws. • Udinese have not won in six European away games (two draws, four defeats) since a 2-1 victory at FC Spartak Moskva in the UEFA Cup group stage on 6 November 2008. Team facts • Udinese's second goal on matchday three was their 50th in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League, and the 100th Atlético have conceded in the two competitions. • Udinese's Pablo Armero celebrates his 25th birthday the day before the game. • Atlético's Brazilian midfielder Diego played in Italy with Juventus in the 2009/10 season. He made a cameo appearance in a 1-0 Serie A home win against Udinese. • Atlético's Tiago Mendes played for Juventus from 2007 to 2009. He featured in a 1-0 home defeat by Udinese in the 2007/08 season. • Udinese boss Francesco Guidolin spent the bulk of his playing career with Hellas-Verona FC, representing the Veneto club in four separate spells. His coaching career included a stint in France as AS Monaco FC boss in 2005/06. Since then he has been in charge of US Città di Palermo (2007-08) and Parma FC (2008-10), taking over for a second spell at Udinese in 2010, 11 years after his first. • Udinese are one of five clubs Guidolin has led in Europe along with Vicenza Calcio, Bologna FC, Monaco and Palermo. He successfully guided Monaco through the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage but missed the cut with Palermo the following season. • A coach since his late 20s, Atlético boss Gregorio Manzano's most tangible achievement in football was leading RCD Mallorca to the 2002/03 Spanish Cup. He took over at Atlético for a second time in the summer after a spell at Sevilla FC, who gave him a belated first taste of UEFA competition in the 2010/11 season.