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By Ian King
With Barcelona surprisingly losing to Osasuna, this was an opportunity not taken to further close the gap at the top of the table. As things stand, it remains at three points.
Their opponents Lille have had something of a mixed start to their Ligue 1 season, after having qualified for this year’s Champions League as a result of finishing fourth last time around. They’re currently in 5th place in the table with three wins and two defeats from their first six matches. One of these losses, at home to PSG, was no great surprise, but the other was. Their 1-0 loss at newly promoted Saint-Etienne was the home side’s only win of the season so far.
But none of this is to say that Lille don’t have some cause for optimism going into this game, even though they will start it as underdogs. They’ve won seven and drawn one of their last eight home European matches, the sort of record that will instil a degree of confidence in a team no matter who the opposition happens to be.
Both teams have injuries. For Real, Thibaut Courtois was injured against Atleti, while David Alaba, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Díaz will also be absent. For Lille, Angel Gomes is suspended, while Ngal’ayel Mukau, Hákon Arnar Haraldsson. Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Bentaleb and Ismaily are all missing.
Of course, playing at home against Real Madrid is the ultimate challenge that any club can face in 2024. Real are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season. They’ve already won the European Super Cup by comfortably beating Atalanta in August, and they breezed past Stuttgart in their opening fixture of the new ‘Swiss model’ Champions League.
For Lille, however, this is their sixth game of the tournament already. In the Third Qualifying Round they beat Fenerbahçe over two legs and in the Play-Off Round they did the same to Slavia Prague. They kicked off their group stage with a 2-0 defeat in Lisbon against Sporting CP. They’ve come a long way already just to get to this stage of the competition, and at home to Real Madrid will be their best chance of causing an upset, no matter how daunting it may look.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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