League of nations comes to Spain

The Europa League gets back down to business in Spain on Thursday, when defending champion Atlético Madrid hosts Rubin Kazan (9.05pm on Cuatro) and continental debutant Levante welcomes Olympiacos to the Ciutat de Valencia.

Radamel Falcao, the much-coveted Atlético striker who has made the competition his personal fiefdom, will also be making his first appearance in the tournament this season having been spared a straightforward group stage by coach Diego Simeone as he masterminded a three-pronged assault on league, King's Cup and Europe. The Colombian already boasts two winners' medals and broke Jürgen Klinsmann's scoring record in the competition at Porto, hitting 17 in 14 games en route to the title. Last season, he netted 12 in 15 as Atlético marched to a second title in three years.

In the absence of the fiery Diego Costa, banned for a head butt in a match against Viktoria Plzen in December, Simeone pointed out that last season, when the Brazilian was on loan at Rayo, Adrián proved the perfect foil for the goal-hungry Colombian. "The statistics show that having Adrián beside him works very well for Falcao," the Argentinean said.

The statistics show that having Adrián beside him works very well for Falcao"

The visitor represents the first stiff test of Atlético's ambition in the tournament this season. Rubin does not quite have the financial clout of Zenit or Anzhi, but it does boast the best Champions League record of any club against Barcelona this century and will be spurred by its current position outside the European spots in the increasingly competitive Russian Premier League. Rubin has added former Málaga striker Salomón Rondón and France international midfielder Yann M'Vila to its ranks this season while Spaniards César Navas, Pablo Orbaiz and Ivan Marcano have plenty of experience of playing Atlético.

Levante, in its first continental competition, has never played a Greek team in any capacity, although midfielder Nabil El Zhar and defender Juanfran have had spells in the Greek Super League. The visitor is led by former Rayo, Getafe, and Sevilla coach Míchel, who took over at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium last Monday. Incidentally, Orbaiz played at Olympiacos last season before joining Rubin -- globalization gone mad.

The Greek club has never won in Spain in 12 attempts, losing 10 of those encounters. Míchel has never beaten Levante, losing in his one visit to the Ciutat de Valencia and tying twice against Juan Ignacio Martínez's side while in charge at Sevilla. Both teams have important absences: Levante captain Sergio Ballesteros is suspended, while Míchel is without Spanish midfielder David Fuster, Serbian striker Marko Pantelic and Malian defender Drissa Diakité.