Lille and Trabzonspor seek knockout blow
An exciting finale is in prospect in Group B where LOSC Lille Métropole and Trabzonspor AŞ meet knowing that a win for either would guarantee a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. A draw would leave them at the mercy of PFC CSKA Moskva, who could pip both to the prize should they win away to section winners FC Internazionale Milano.
• Lille put matters in their own hands with a first success of the campaign on matchday five, winning 2-0 in Moscow through an own goal and a tap-in from Moussa Sow. On the same night Trabzonspor’s hopes were checked as they were held at home to Inter, a point earned by Halil Altıntop’s equaliser.
• In the 27 September contest between these teams – their first-ever competitive meeting – a second-half penalty from Gustavo Colman earned Trabzonspor a point. It was awarded after Mathieu Debuchy had handled Adrian Mierzejewski’s cross and followed Sow’s clinical finish through the legs of goalkeeper Tolga Zengin that had put Lille in front.
• Before that Lille had surrendered a two-goal lead at home to CSKA to draw 2-2 while the double-header with Inter produced single-goal defeats both home and away.
• Trabzonspor began with a stunning away win at Inter on their UEFA Champions League debut but they have been unable to take maximum points in any of their subsequent fixtures, losing 3-0 away to CSKA on matchday three before drawing 0-0 in the return.
• The Turkish team do, however, have six points – one more than both Lille and CSKA – and a point would be enough for them to finish second should CSKA not win at Inter. For Lille, only a win will do.
• Seven points is the lowest total with which a team has progressed from a UEFA Champions League group stage. The first to do it, since three points for a win was introduced in 1995/96, were Legia Warszawa that same season before FC Dynamo Kyiv and Bayer 04 Leverkusen (both 1999/2000), Liverpool FC (2001/02), FC Lokomotiv Moskva and eventual finalists Juventus (2002/03) and Rangers FC and SV Werder Bremen (2005/06) all matched the feat.
Match background
• Before matchday two Lille had faced Turkish opponents in just one tie, coming out on top against Fenerbahçe SK in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32 thanks to a 2-1 win at home and 1-1 away draw.
• Trabzonspor have been successful in both their two previous away games against Ligue 1 opponents. In the 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round against Olympique Lyonnais they won 4-3 (8-4 on aggregate) and also won 1-0 in the second leg of the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League play-offs against Toulouse FC. However that was not enough to keep the Turkish team in the competition as they had lost the home game 3-1.
Team ties
• Róbert Vittek was at Lille from 2008 to 2010, scoring seven goals in 38 Ligue 1 appearances.
• Ireneusz Jeleń and Ludovic Obraniak are team-mates with Adrian Mierzejewski, Arkadiusz Glowacki and the Brożek twins in the Poland national team.
• Didier Zokora played for AS Saint-Étienne in 2004/05 and 2005/06, losing five of the six games he played against Lille and drawing the other.
• Joe Cole faced Trabzonspor twice last season with Liverpool FC in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. The English club won 3-1 on aggregate, Cole missing a first-leg penalty at Anfield.
• Jeleń and Mierzejewski played together at Wisła Płock from 2003 to 2006.
• Vahid Halilhodžić has coached both sides, leading Lille in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League in what was the last of his four seasons at the French club. He spent 2005/06 in charge of Trabzonspor.