Hoffenheim v Lyon background

Hoffenheim's latest attempt to earn a first UEFA Champions League victory brings a home game against Group F leaders Lyon.

• While the French side lead the section on four points having picked up a win and a draw so far, Hoffenheim have a single point to their name and will be eager to get a first victory on the board in their first fixture with French opposition.

Form guide
Hoffenheim
• The German club's debut in the UEFA Champions League proper was a 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk, although Hoffenheim's home bow fell flat as they were undone by a late Manchester City goal to lose 2-1 at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on matchday two.

• Third in last season's Bundesliga – their highest ever finish – Hoffenheim made their European bow against eventual runners-up Liverpool in last season's UEFA Champions League play-offs (1-2 home, 2-4 away).

• They went on to pick up five points in the UEFA Europa League group stage, finishing fourth in a section that also included Braga, Ludogorets and İstanbul Başakşehir.

• Hoffenheim lost their first two European home matches before beating İstanbul Başakşehir 3-1 on matchday three of last season's UEFA Europa League; they subsequently drew 1-1 against Ludogorets.

• Die Kraichgauer have won only one of their ten European matches, home and away. Having lost the first four, the City defeat was their second reverse in the last six.

• Hoffenheim are the 13th German club to feature in the UEFA Champions League – a joint competition record with Spain. They are one of three newcomers to the UEFA Champions League group stage this season, alongside Crvena zvezda and Young Boys.

• Aged 31 years 58 days, Julian Nagelsmann became the youngest coach in UEFA Champions League history on matchday one, replacing Viktor Goncharenko, who was 31 years 99 days when BATE took on Real Madrid on matchday one in 2008/09.

Lyon
• Les Gones kicked off their 2018/19 UEFA Champions League campaign with a memorable 2-1 victory at Manchester City, and recovered from 0-2 down at home to Shakhtar last time out to salvage a point.

• That makes it four wins – and only one defeat – in the last six European matches for Bruno Génésio's side.

• Lyon are in the group stage for the third time in four seasons – their 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns both ended at that hurdle.

• In 2017/18, Lyon made it as far as the UEFA Europa League round of 16, but were denied the chance to appear in the final at their own ground as they lost to CSKA Moskva at that stage.

• OL have lost on their last two trips to Germany, where their record overall is W4 D2 L7. The last such fixture was a 3-0 reverse at Schalke in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage – Lyon's fourth defeat in their past six matches with Bundesliga clubs, home and away (W1 D1).

• Lyon were UEFA Champions League semi-finalists in 2010 and are in the group stage for the 15th time – more than any other French club.

Links and trivia
• Ishak Belfodil signed for Lyon in June 2008 and made ten appearances for the first team before joining Parma in 2012.

• Have played together:
Joshua Brenet & Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven 2013–15)

• International team-mates:
Joshua Brenet & Memphis Depay (Netherlands)

• Andrej Kramarić (Croatia) and Nabil Fekir (France) both came on as substitutes in the FIFA World Cup final on 15 July; France were 4-2 winners in Moscow.

Latest news

Hoffenheim
• Five of Hoffenheim's last 11 Bundesliga games have finished 3-1, including Saturday's victory at Nürnberg.

• Before the weekend, Hoffenheim had lost three games in a row, all at home, 2-1, being beaten by RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt either side of the Manchester City reverse.

• Reiss Nelson has scored four goals for Hoffenheim – including two on Saturday – in his four short Bundesliga appearances, playing 165 minutes in total.

• Ádám Szalai scored twice in Hungary's 3-3 UEFA Nations League draw in Estonia on 15 October, his 50th international appearance.

• Håvard Nordtveit returned from suspension to play 90 minutes in Norway's crucial 1-0 win over Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League on 16 October.

• Kasim Nuhu made his first appearance since 1 September at Nürnberg having recovered from an ankle problem.

• Nadiem Amiri (mid-August, foot surgery) and Dennis Geiger (10 March, hamstring) are both back in training.

• Florian Grillitsch (knee), Leonardo Bittencourt (muscle) and Stefan Posch (calf) all suffered injuries in the 2-1 home defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt on 7 October. Grillitsch started Saturday's win at Nürnberg but was withdrawn at half-time; Bittencourt and Posch did not feature.

• Ermin Bičakčić returned at the weekend having not played since 25 September due to a calf injury.

• Benjamin Hübner has been out since 3 August due to concussion. Lukas Rupp has not played this season after suffering a knee injury on 5 May.

Lyon
• Lyon's six-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W3 D3) was emphatically ended by a 5-0 loss at Paris Saint-Germain on 7 October – their heaviest defeat since a 6-1 loss at Nantes on 15 February 2000.

• Nabil Fekir was replaced after only six minutes in Paris with an ankle injury and missed France's subsequent internationals plus Lyon's 2-0 home win against Nîmes on Friday.

• Memphis Depay was on target as the Netherlands beat Germany 3-0 in the UEFA Nations League on 13 October. The Dutchman also scored Lyon's second goal against Nîmes, his first strike in Ligue 1 since the opening day of the season on 12 August.

• Moussa Dembélé, who opened the scoring in the Nîmes win, has four goals in his last four Lyon appearances.

• Houssem Aouar scored as France's Under-21 side drew 1-1 with Slovenia in their final UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier on 16 October – their first dropped points of the campaign.

• Maxwel Cornet scored in Ivory Coast's 4-0 defeat of the Central African Republic in 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on 12 October. He missed the Nîmes game with an ankle problem picked up on international duty.

• Jason Denayer appeared in Belgium's 1-1 friendly draw in the Netherlands on 16 October – his first cap since UEFA EURO 2016.

• Tanguy Ndombélé made his senior France debut as a substitute in the 2-2 friendly draw with Iceland, and also came on in the 2-1 UEFA Nations League defeat of Germany.

• Bertrand Traoré is Lyon's top scorer in Ligue 1 this season with four goals – all at home.

• On 4 October Lucas Tousart agreed a one-year contract extension until June 2023.

• Rafael has not played since the Paris defeat due to a shoulder problem that forced him off shortly before half-time; his replacement against Paris, Léo Dubois, was ruled out of the Nîmes game by a thigh injury. Lyon's other right-back, Kenny Tete, has been unavailable since 15 September (adductors).