Lille seek to profit from Levski visit

LOSC Lille Métropole will look to leapfrog PFC Levski Sofia into second place in UEFA Europa League Group C as the Bulgarian side make their second outing on French soil.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition and it is also Lille's first taste of Bulgarian opposition.

• Levski have played three previous games against French sides, all of them in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup. Their record reads W2 D0 L1, though they lost their only previous game in France, 2-1 at AJ Auxerre.

Match background
• Lille kicked off the group stage with a 2-1 loss at home against Sporting Clube de Portugal, having not lost in their previous eight European fixtures on their own patch. Manchester United FC were the last foreign side before Sporting to beat them in France.

• The loss against Sporting was Lille's first in six UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage home games.

• Levski are without a win in three European away games, and have not scored in their last two games on their travels.

Team facts
• Levski have the joint worst defensive record in the group stage alongside FC Steaua Bucureşti. Both clubs conceded seven goals in their opening two games.

• Lille coach Rudi Garcia represented the club as a midfielder at the start of his playing career, and has been back with Les Dogues since 2008 – though he was briefly released in June last year only to be rehired two weeks later. He has also coached AS Saint-Etienne and Le Mans UC 72.

• Levski coach Yasen Petrov spent one season as an attacking midfielder with the club in 1991/92, representing their local rivals FC Lokomotiv Sofia and FC Slavia Sofia as well as clubs in China, Cyprus and Germany. Twice a Bulgarian Cup winner as a player, Petrov won three international caps and coached four other top-tier clubs before being hired as Levski coach in May 2010.