Lyon steeled for Sevilla showdown

A 3-1 defeat at home against Juventus in their last fixture left progress from Group in jeopardy for Sevilla FC, who will miss out on the knockout rounds if Olympique Lyonnais beat them by two goals or more.

• The French side gave themselves that opportunity with a 1-0 win at GNK Dinamo Zagreb, secured by Alexandre Lacazette's 72nd-minute goal that also clinched at least third place.

• Lyon must overcome Sevilla by a margin of two goals or more to grab second ahead of their visitors. Sevilla won 1-0 at home so OL must better that victory in order to overtake their guests. One-nil would not be enough for Lyon as Sevilla would have the superior goal difference in all matches. Any other Lyon win by a one-goal margin and Sevilla go through on head-to-head away goals.

• The fixture on 27 September – the first competitive encounter between the teams – went Sevilla's way thanks to Wissam Ben Yedder's second-half goal. It was only their second victory in six encounters with Ligue 1 opponents.

Previous meetings
• Two friendly matches between the sides yielded only one goal. On 30 July 2009 in Seville, the home side edged things 1-0 thanks to Ernesto Chevantón's goal four minutes from time. François Clerc and Jean II Makoun were both sent off for the visitors.

• When the teams met in Lyon on 22 July 2014 it finished 0-0.

Match background

Lyon
• The French side began their 14th group stage campaign with a 3-0 home win against Dinamo Zagreb. In the double header with Juventus they first lost 1-0 at home and then rescued a point away through Corentin Tolisso's 85th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

• It was against Spanish opponents that the Ligue 1 runners-up achieved their solitary success last season, a 2-0 victory at Valencia CF on matchday six.  It meant that they preserved their record of gaining at least one win in every campaign.

• Lyon's home record against Liga clubs is W6 D3 L5; overall it is W9 D7 L13.

Sevilla
• Los Blanquirrojos began with a 0-0 draw at Juventus and in the double-header with Dinamo they first won 1-0 away and then 4-0 at home.

• Last season Unai Emery's side put the disappointment at only finishing third in Group D behind them by lifting the UEFA Europa League for the third successive year and fifth time in 11 seasons.

• If Jorge Sampaoli's charges lose to Lyon by two goals or more they would miss out on the knockout rounds, but consolation would come with the opportunity to defend their UEFA Europa League trophy.

• In the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League Sevilla lost all three away fixtures. In the UEFA Europa League they won one of their four away games, drawing two, en route to the final in Basel where they overcame Liverpool FC 3-1.

• The Andalusian club have lost on all three previous visits to France for competitive fixtures.

 • In the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage they lost 4-2 at Paris Saint-Germain and went down 1-0 in 2004/05 and 2005/06 on two visits to LOSC Lille in the same competition. In the latter campaign they progressed from that round of 16 tie via a 2-0 home win and went on to claim their first European trophy.

Coach and player links
• Timothée Kolodziejczak made 12 league appearances for Lyon between 2008 and 2012. For OGC Nice he faced Lyon three times between 2012 and 2014, losing two and drawing one.

• Ben Yedder scored five times in nine games against Lyon during six years with Toulouse FC (2010–2016). He was on the winning side twice, losing on five occasions.

• Benoît Trémoulinas scored in FC Girondins de Bordeaux's 2-0 victory over Lyon in 2012. He faced Lyon 13 times in his six years there and was on the winning side seven times. He also spent a year at AS Saint-Étienne.

• Adil Rami scored in LOSC Lille's 2-2 draw with Lyon in 2008. In six appearances against Lyon he was only on the losing side once.

• Salvatore Sirigu made 145 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain before joining Sevilla on loan this summer. His record against Lyon is W3 D3 L1.

• Others who have played for another club in their opponents' country:
Sergi Darder (Málaga CF 2013–2015)
Steven N’Zonzi (Amiens SC 2007–2009)
Mariano Ferreira (Bordeaux 2012–2015)
Samir Nasri (Olympique de Marseille 2004–2008)

• Have played together:
Sirigu & Christophe Jallet (Paris Saint-Germain, 2011–14)
Gabriel Mercado & Emanuel Mammana (CA River Plate, 2014–2016)
Matías Kranevitter & Mammana (River Plate, 2014–2015)

• International team-mates:
Mathieu Valbuena, Jallet, Clément Grenier, Maxime Gonalons, Alexandre Lacazette & Rami (France)
Gonalons, Valbuena, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Grenier, Lacazette, Nabil Fekir, Jallet & Trémoulinas (France)
Yanga-Mbiwa, Gonalons & N'Zonzi (France U21)
Gueïda Fofana, Grenier, Lacazette & Ben Yedder (France U21)

Match facts

Lyon
• Darder and Rafael are a booking away from a ban.

• Lacazette has scored six goals, three of them penalties, in his last eight appearances.

• Lyon recorded the biggest away win in their history when they triumphed 6-0 at FC Nantes on 30 November.

• The Nantes fixture brought up 100 Ligue 1 appearances for Tolisso, who was one of six different scorers at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

• Valbuena's goal in the 2-1 home defeat by Paris on 27 November was his first in Ligue 1 since 23 October 2015. He scored again in Nantes.

Sevilla
• Franco Vázquez and Sampaoli serve suspensions on matchday six; Vicente Iborra, Mercado and Nico Pareja are all a booking away from a ban.

• Joaquín Correa scored a hat-trick, his first goals for Sevilla, as the Andalusian side eased to a 5-1 victory at SD Formentera in the first leg of their Copa del Rey round of 32 tie on 30 November.

• Nasri (fitness issues), Mariano (hamstring), Daniel Carriço (hamstring) are doubtful, while Trémoulinas (knee) and Carlos Fernández (knee) are out.

Chapecoense commemoration
Teams taking part in all of the matchday six UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches will observe a minute's silence to pay respect to the victims of last week's air disaster involving the Chapecoense team and accompanying delegation. The Brazilian club lost most of their players and coaching staff in the accident, which occurred in Colombia, where Chapecoense were due to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional.

"European football is united in expressing its deepest sympathy to Chapecoense, the Brazilian Football Confederation [CBF], CONMEBOL and the families of all the victims," said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. "This tragedy has shaken the world of football, and we would like to send our support to all of those affected by it."