Sevilla hoping for third time lucky

Sevilla FC must overturn a first-leg deficit against LOSC Lille Métropole if they are to avoid the same fate that befell them last season – UEFA Cup elimination in the Round of 16. Geoffrey Dernis scored direct from a corner in the first leg at the Villeneuve d'Ascq as Claude Puel's side took a tentative step towards the last eight.

• Despite playing over 50 games in UEFA club competition since making their debut on the European stage almost 50 years ago, Sevilla had only once before encountered French opposition before the first encounter. Last season they were paired with Lille in the group stage of the UEFA Cup, with the French side winning 1-0 at home thanks to a 77th-minute goal from Matt Moussilou. Lille went on to finish top of the group with Sevilla second.

• A year later Lille, one of three French teams remaining in the UEFA Cup, repeated the feat and will hope to make it a hat-trick at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán as they attempt to break their country's competition duck this season. Ligue 1 has supplied winners of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup but the UEFA Cup has until now proved elusive.

• Lille's UEFA Champions League Group D challenge started sluggishly, picking up just two points from games against SL Benfica, Villarreal CF and Manchester United FC. The Ligue 1 side defeated the English Premiership outfit in the reverse fixture at the Stade de France as Milenko Ačimovič scored what proved to be their only goal of the campaign. A goalless draw against Benfica followed before Lille ended with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Villarreal.

• A UEFA Cup berth was their reward for finishing third in the group, and goals from Nicolas Fauvergue, Dernis and Peter Odemwingie sent them cruising past FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the Round of 32. Brandão and Ciprian Marica struck late on to leave the tie wide open but Puel's side held on in Ukraine to seal their passage.

• Sevilla had no such problems against FC Lokomotiv Moskva as they eased through 3-0 on aggregate. A second-half strike from Jordi López gave the Spanish side the initiative in freezing conditions in the Russian capital and goals from Vicenzo Maresca and Antonio Puerta then saw them through at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. It was the continuation of an impressive UEFA Cup campaign that saw them escape a congested Group H as section winners. Javier Saviola was in the goals as Sevilla defeated Beşiktaş JK and Vitória SC, while drawing with Bolton Wanderers FC and losing to FC Zenit St. Petersburg.

• The first leg was Lille's second victory against Spanish opposition in five attempts to date after making their debut in the UEFA Champions League in 2000/01. They were drawn against RC Deportivo La Coruña in the first group stage in their maiden campaign. Both matches finished in a 1-1 draw, with Adekamni Olufade scoring after 87 minutes in the first contest played at the Stade Félix-Bollaert in Lens, and Bruno Cheyrou cancelling out an early Deportivo lead with a penalty in La Coruna.

• This season they were held to a goalless draw by Villarreal at the Stade de France but went into their last fixture with their hopes of a last-16 berth still alive. However, needing to win their last game at El Madrigal at the expense of their opponents, Lille were undone by a second-half strike from substitute Antonio Guayre.