Lille (AFP)

A year after an encouraging participation in the Champions League, Lille wants to continue to grow on the European scene, which the undefeated leader of the L1 finds Thursday on the lawn of Sparta Prague at the opening of the Europa League (9 p.m.).

Uncompromising in the league with two draws and five wins, the latest overwhelming over its great rival Lensois on Sunday in the North derby (4-0), Losc wants to do well in C3 and extricate itself from a raised group, also composed of AC Milan of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Celtic Glasgow.

"We will always keep the same state of mind about the game and our philosophy, with the ambition to get out of the hens because it is a goal defined by my president" Gerard Lopez, underlined Lille coach Christophe Galtier.

Promising in the game last season in C1, the Mastiffs had yet obtained calamitous results with only one draw and five defeats in a group which only had regulars in the competition: Chelsea, Ajax Amsterdam and Valencia.

Voluntary but inexperienced, the people of Lille had paid dearly to learn, because of a lack of realism and small mistakes which had cost them dearly.

- "We weren't ready" -

"The experience of the Champions League should serve us. Last year we were not ready, not at the level," acknowledged Christophe Galtier.

"This competition (the Europa League) is less tough but we have to use what we did last year by being much more effective in the zones of truth on a defensive as well as offensive level."

If the Losc notably let go its Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, who will also play the C3 with Napoli, and the experienced striker Loïc Rémy, the Lille workforce, who did not finally suffer any other major departure at the end of the transfer window. , seems even more complete than last season.

This will be very useful because the match in Prague marks the start of a marathon of six matches in 18 days before the next international break, where a lot of northern players will still be in demand.

"The players are ready to go one after the other but, when you play four times in two weeks, that's a lot. I will try to prevent the players from getting tired because once it is there it is much more difficult to recover, ”explained Galtier.

"We will look at the playing times, especially those who have left for selection. There will automatically be freshness injected but at what position I will not say it!", He added.

- Iron defense -

Third best attack in L1 despite the difficulties of adaptation of his Canadian center forward Jonathan David, recruited for 27 million euros this summer and still silent, the Losc will mainly rely on his iron defense, the most impermeable of the championship, to try to strike a blow on the lawn of Sparta Prague, a team familiar with European games.

Indeed, in seven meetings, Lille have not yet conceded any goal in the game and only two on corners.

The reasons for this strength are quite simple: the experienced José Fonte (36) returned to his best level, like his superb performance against Lens on Sunday, while his new teammate in central hinge, the young Dutchman Sven Botman (20) has impressed since the start of the season.

And full-backs Zeki Celik and Domagoj Bradaric close the corridors well.

In full confidence, the Mastiffs have the means to bring back a good result from the Czech Republic.

As long as you do not repeat the mistakes of last year ...

© 2020 AFP