LOSC v Wolfsburg background
Friday, November 28, 2014
Article summary
LOSC Lille need a first UEFA Europa League Group H win on matchday six if they are to claim a place in the round of 32 draw at the expense of guests VfL Wolfsburg.
Article top media content
Article body
LOSC Lille will look to steal a UEFA Europa League round of 32 place away from VfL Wolfsburg as the sides reconvene in Group H on matchday six.
• LOSC will finish second in the section if they beat Wolfsburg.
• Wolfsburg need only avoid defeat to hold on to their runners-up slot.
Form guide
• Kevin De Bruyne's volley earned Wolfsburg a 1-1 draw when they met LOSC on matchday two.
• Wolfsburg have yet to win in five games in France (D2 L3) and have scored just once in the course of those visits, drawing blanks in each of the last three.
• LOSC are without a win in four European home matches this season (D3 L1); they have not won in seven European home contests (D3 L4) since a 2-0 success against FC København in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League play-offs.
Trivia and links
• Wolfsburg have had more attempts on goal than any other side in this season's group stage: 109. They have also committed the fewest fouls: 42.
• LOSC's Danish defender Simon Kjær played for Wolfsburg from 2010 to 2013.
• Wolfsburg's French midfielder Josuha Guilavogui met LOSC seven times as an AS Saint-Étienne player without winning (D2 L5). He was sent off in a 1-1 draw against LOSC on 26 May 2013.
• Wolfsburg's Ivan Perišić started his playing career in France, playing for FC Sochaux-Montbéliard's reserves. He was a trainee at the club at the same time as LOSC's Marvin Martin.
• Wolfsburg's Junior Malanda and LOSC's Jonathan Delaplace were midfield team-mates at SV Zulte-Waregem from 2012 to 2013.
• LOSC forward Divock Origi and Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin De Bruyne are international team-mates with Belgium.
The coaches
• As a midfielder, LOSC coach René Girard won three titles and two French Cups with FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the 1980s. After a long spell coaching national age-group teams, he won Ligue 1 as Montpellier Hérault SC boss in 2011/12, moving to Lille in July 2013.
• At one stage a lower-league midfielder and trainee policeman, Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking is back in Europe for the first time since leading second-tier TSV Alemannia Aachen into the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage. More recently, he has coached Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nürnberg, taking up his current post in December 2012.
