Lille look to get back on track

LOSC Lille Métropole, who were one of the three teams, along with Schalke 04 and Villarreal CF, to qualify for the UEFA Cup from the UEFA Intertoto Cup, meet Russian opposition for the first time in UEFA club competitions.

Soviet visit
However, Lille have gained a success over a team from the region in the Intertoto Cup. Their 4-3 aggregate win in the second round was against FC Dinamo Minsk, who won the former Soviet Union championship in 1982 by a point from FC Dynamo Kyiv, and they now meet an FC Zenit St. Peterburg team who have made an impressive start to the group stage.

Stalled progress
Lille who are playing their third season of UEFA club competitions, have had their progress in this season’s UEFA Cup stalled in their opening group game with a 1-0 defeat at TSV Alemannia Aachen, the German second division club. But for matchday two they will be hoping to make home advantage count.

Hat-trick
Zenit were one of three teams to score five goals in their opening group game, in a 5-1 home win over AEK Athens FC. Aleksandr Kerzhakov scored the opening hat-trick of the group stages, and other goals came from Andrei Arshavin and Igor Denisov. The Russians came through the qualifiers with a win on the away goal against SV Pasching of Austria, and were also impressive in dispatching FK Crvena Zvezda 6-1 on aggregate in the first round.