Lille looking to go the distance

Defender Adil Rami has set his sights on going all the way to the UEFA Europa League final after helping LOSC Lille Métropole continue their superb start with a resounding win over Genoa CFC in Group B.

Confidence boost
Strikes from Ludovic Obraniak, Robert Vittek and Eden Hazard took the French club's tally of goals in Europe to 19 overall this season, as well as propelling them to top spot in the section. Having held Valencia CF to a draw and fired five past SK Slavia Praha, Lille's fine run continued against the Serie A outfit, fuelling confidence. "We played some really nice football, created a lot of chances and scored goals," Rami told uefa.com. "We fought for a whole year to get into this competition so we should give it our all.

Rami enthusiasm
"I haven't fixed any objectives but we're all competitors and I'd like to go all the way to the final," the 23-year-old centre-back continued. "The main thing is we enjoy this run." Les Dogues have plenty of hurdles to clear before their can contemplate a first European final, yet Rami's enthusiasm is understandable given the club's contrasting domestic fortunes. Currently 15th in Ligue 1, Rudi Garcia's men have struggled to get their campaign started. "It's hard to know why we're not scoring so frequently in the league," Rami said. "We're creating as many chances but we're just not as lucky. Sooner or later the balls will stop hitting the posts and start going in."

'Most complete performance'
Midfielder Florent Balmont agreed, saying: "We're just getting more breaks in Europe." The 29-year-old, who turned in an outstanding performance, hopes the team will take confidence from Thursday's win. "We were strong from start to finish," said the former OGC Nice ball-winner. "This was our most complete performance of the season. Now we have to continue with a big game against [AJ] Auxerre on Sunday."

'Hard work'
The victory takes Lille top of the group, two points clear of Valencia and four ahead of Genoa. "I don't know if we're best team, but I think we deserve to be top," Balmont reflected. "We've done the job that's been asked of us so far. We're not through yet, though." Genoa, meanwhile, must pick themselves up after two sobering defeats, having lost 5-0 to FC Internazionale Milano at the weekend. Giandomenico Mesto is calling for the team to roll up their sleeves: "We just have to work harder," the midfielder said. "There's no secret. We need to get our head down in training and start playing to our strengths again."