Chornomorets seek Lyon breakthrough

FC Chornomorets Odesa are embarking on their first springtime European adventure as they welcome seasoned guests Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Chornomorets' record in six games against French clubs is W0 D3 L3 (W0 D3 L0 at home – W0 D0 L3 in France). They have drawn all three of their home games against French teams 0-0 and only scored their first goal against a French outfit at the sixth attempt, in a 3-1 UEFA Intertoto Cup loss at RC Lens in 2007.

• Lyon's only encounters against Ukrainian opponents were a pair of 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group games against FC Dynamo Kyiv – they won 3-0 away and 1-0 at home.

Match background
• Chornomorets are playing in the spring phase of a UEFA competition for the first time. This is already comfortably the longest European campaign in their history; this is their 13th 2013/14 UEFA Europa League fixture – their longest past campaign was a six-game voyage to the second round of the 1995/96 UEFA Cup.

• Chornomorets have won four of their six European home matches this season.

• Lyon have made it through three group stages since reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2009/10, but have fallen at the first springtime hurdle on all three occasions.

• Lyon came through the UEFA Europa League group stage unbeaten (W3 D3), but goals were hard to come by – they averaged just one per match.

Team facts
• Chornomorets' Brazilian right-back Leo Matos knows a little about French football, having been on the books at Olympique de Marseille from 2004–07.

• Chornomorets' Ivorian forward Franck Dja Djedjé is familiar with Ligue 1, having started his career at Paris Saint-Germain, going on to represent Stade Brestois 29, Grenoble Foot 38, RC Strasbourg, Vannes OC, AC Arles-Avignon and OGC Nice.

• Lyon midfielder Massivi Simba turns 20 on the day of the first leg.

• Chornomorets forward Olexiy Anotonov was fouled 18 times in the group stage – more than any other player in the competition.

• Ukraine and Italy are the most represented countries in the round of 32 with four teams each.

Coach information
• Chornomorets coach since November 2010, Roman Grygorchuk was a successful striker in his native Ukraine, also playing in Austria, Poland and Russia before going from the pitch to the bench in Latvia. He won three Latvian titles as FK Ventspils coach, but then opted to return to Ukraine. In Odessa, he won promotion to the top division in his first season in charge, while a sixth-place finish in 2012/13 opened the door to Europe.

• Rémi Garde has spent much of his career with Lyon, taking over as first-team coach in June 2011. As a defensive midfielder, he captained Les Gones and won six caps for France, ending his career with spells at RC Strasbourg and Arsenal FC, who he helped win the 1997/98 English double. After a spell as a pundit he joined Lyon's coaching staff and was assistant to Paul Le Guen and Gérard Houllier before taking charge of the club's training centre and subsequently becoming head coach.

Round of 16
• The winners of this tie will take on either FC Viktoria Plzeň or FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 16, with the first leg at home.

• Lyon are yet to encounter either of their potential opponents.

• Chornomorets have met neither side in Europe, but know Shakhtar well from the Ukrainian league.