French five aim for famous first

Beaten finalists
SC Bastia, FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique de Marseille have all reached UEFA Cup finals in the past but none were victorious. While Bastia lost 3-0 to PSV Eindhoven in 1978 and Bordeaux were soundly beaten 5-1 by FC Bayern München in 1996, Marseille - one of the quintet still involved this term - have come closest, contesting two finals in the last seven years. They succumbed 3-0 to Parma AC in 1999 before going down 2-0 against Valencia CF two years ago after losing Fabien Barthez to a red card.

Three survivors
The France goalkeeper is likely to be one of only three survivors from that game when Marseille take on Bolton Wanderers FC, proof of the club's perpetual instability. Habib Beye and Demetrius Ferreira, also present against Valencia, may feature in a Marseille defence that has not been breached in its last four outings.

Solid performance
Nigeria midfielder Wilson Oruma, back from the African Cup of Nations, called for another solid performance on English soil. "The most important thing is that we don't concede," he said. "It's going to be a battle but if we match Bolton physically we could take something back to the Stade Vélodrome."

Strength in depth
Also in the last 32 are RC Lens, LOSC Lille Métropole, AS Monaco FC and RC Strasbourg, meaning France have more representatives than any other nation. The trend suggests the depth of quality in Ligue 1 is increasing, a view supported by former AJ Auxerre coach Guy Roux. "Ligue 1 might not have as many great teams, but the overall standard compares favourably to Serie A," Roux said.

Strasbourg hope
Strasbourg's performances highlight the point. Last season's French League Cup winners are 19th in Ligue 1, yet won their group-stage pool ahead of AS Roma, FC Basel 1893, FK Crvena Zvezda and Tromsø IL. They travel to Bulgaria to play PFC Litex Lovech low on confidence, having failed to win in four league outings, but captain Guillaume Lacour is anticipating another good display. "The UEFA Cup is a bonus and we really enjoy ourselves when we play in this competition," he said.

Udinese challenge
Lens have also been struggling domestically. They entered the winter break second in the standings but have slipped to eighth after one victory in seven games. Midfielder Seydou Keita could not hide his frustration after Olympique Lyonnais' late equaliser on Saturday. "It's infuriating and hard to accept but we have to stay professional and focus on Udinese," Keita said. Lens visit Italy and Udinese Calcio with some optimism, however, having eliminated UC Sampdoria in dramatic fashion in December.

Italian influence
Monaco, ninth in Ligue 1, will be looking to their own Italian influence for the trip to Basel. Christian Vieri, who has scored three goals in three league matches since joining from AC Milan, will lead the line for Francesco Guidolin's team, though another Italian Marco Di Vaio is ineligible having already played in the UEFA Intertoto Cup for Valencia.

Stadium switch
Finally, Lille return to their familiar Stade du Nord for the meeting with FC Shakhtar Donetsk, having staged their UEFA Champions League fixtures at the Stade de France. Lille lie fourth in Ligue 1, but have not scored in their last two outings, mirroring their form in Europe this term.