Lyon v Atalanta background

Lyon will have a challenge to suppress a buoyant Atalanta side, the Italian club having made a glorious return to Europe in their opening UEFA Europa League Group E game.

Previous meetings
• This is the sides' first meeting and Atalanta's maiden encounter with French opponents.

• Lyon's record in 22 games against Italian sides is W8 D5 L9 (W4 D3 L4 at home).

Form guide
• Lyon are on a four-game winning streak at home in European games, during which they have scored 16 goals – an average of four per match.

• Atalanta kicked off Group E with a 3-0 win against Everton, matching the margin of their biggest previous European win: 4-1 v Fenerbahçe in November 1990.

• Semi-finalists last season, when they lost out to Ajax having transferred from the UEFA Champions League group stage, Lyon have won their last four UEFA Europa League home matches, including 4-2 against their most recent Italian visitors, Roma, in last season’s round of 16.

• Lyon are unbeaten at home in six UEFA Europa League group games (W5 D1).

• Fourth in Serie A last term, Atalanta are returning to Europe for the first time since 1990/91, when they were eliminated by Internazionale in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Links and trivia
• The journey from Bergamo to Lyon is around 400km.

• The game is taking place the day after Lyon's Maxwel Cornet turns 21.

• Cornet and Atalanta defender José Luis Palomino played together in France with Metz (2015–16).

• Atalanta's Robin Gosens and Lyon's Bertrand Traoré were both on the books at Vitesse in 2014/15, but never played a senior game together.

• Lyon defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa played in Italy with Roma in 2014/15, featuring in a 1-1 Serie A draw at home against Atalanta.

The coaches
• Born in Lyon, Bruno Génésio came through the club's ranks as a midfielder, playing for the senior side from 1985 to 1995, and returning as assistant coach in 2011 before taking sole command in December 2015.

• A one-time Juventus youth player, Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini mostly played in Italy's lower divisions, but worked his way up to the top tier as a coach, leading Inter, Genoa and Palermo before taking the job in Bergamo in 2016.