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Lille and Trabzonspor seek knockout blow

LOSC Lille Métropole and Trabzonspor AŞ go into their matchday six meeting knowing that victory will put them into the UEFA Champions League knockout stage as Group B runners-up.

It will be a tense evening for Mathieu Debuchy and Lille
It will be a tense evening for Mathieu Debuchy and Lille ©Getty Images

An exciting finale is in prospect in Group B where LOSC Lille Métropole and Trabzonspor AŞ meet knowing that a win for either would guarantee a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. A draw would leave them at the mercy of PFC CSKA Moskva, who could pip both to the prize should they win away to section winners FC Internazionale Milano.

• Lille put matters in their own hands with a first success of the campaign on matchday five, winning 2-0 in Moscow through an own goal and a tap-in from Moussa Sow. On the same night Trabzonspor's hopes were checked as they were held at home to Inter, a point earned by Halil Altıntop's equaliser.

• In the 27 September contest between these teams – their first-ever competitive meeting – a second-half penalty from Gustavo Colman earned Trabzonspor a point. It was awarded after Mathieu Debuchy had handled Adrian Mierzejewski's cross and followed Sow's clinical finish through the legs of goalkeeper Tolga Zengin that had put Lille in front.

• Before that Lille had surrendered a two-goal lead at home to CSKA to draw 2-2 while the double-header with Inter produced single-goal defeats both home and away.

• Trabzonspor began with a stunning away win at Inter on their UEFA Champions League debut but they have been unable to take maximum points in any of their subsequent fixtures, losing 3-0 away to CSKA on matchday three before drawing 0-0 in the return.

• The Turkish team do, however, have six points – one more than both Lille and CSKA – and a point would be enough for them to finish second should CSKA not win at Inter. For Lille, only a win will do.

• Seven points is the lowest total with which a team has progressed from a UEFA Champions League group stage. The first to do it, since three points for a win was introduced in 1995/96, were Legia Warszawa that same season before FC Dynamo Kyiv and Bayer 04 Leverkusen (both 1999/2000), Liverpool FC (2001/02), FC Lokomotiv Moskva and eventual finalists Juventus (2002/03) and Rangers FC and SV Werder Bremen (2005/06) all matched the feat.

Match background
• Before matchday two Lille had faced Turkish opponents in just one tie, coming out on top against Fenerbahçe SK in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32 thanks to a 2-1 win at home and 1-1 away draw.

• Trabzonspor have been successful in both their two previous away games against Ligue 1 opponents. In the 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round against Olympique Lyonnais they won 4-3 (8-4 on aggregate) and also won 1-0 in the second leg of the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League play-offs against Toulouse FC. However that was not enough to keep the Turkish team in the competition as they had lost the home game 3-1.

Team ties
• Róbert Vittek was at Lille from 2008 to 2010, scoring seven goals in 38 Ligue 1 appearances.

• Ireneusz Jeleń and Ludovic Obraniak are team-mates with Adrian Mierzejewski, Arkadiusz Glowacki and the Brożek twins in the Poland national team.

• Didier Zokora played for AS Saint-Étienne in 2004/05 and 2005/06, losing five of the six games he played against Lille and drawing the other.

• Joe Cole faced Trabzonspor twice last season with Liverpool FC in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. The English club won 3-1 on aggregate, Cole missing a first-leg penalty at Anfield.

• Jeleń and Mierzejewski played together at Wisła Płock from 2003 to 2006.

• Vahid Halilhodžić has coached both sides, leading Lille in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League in what was the last of his four seasons at the French club. He spent 2005/06 in charge of Trabzonspor.

• Burak Yılmaz scored Turkey's equaliser in a 1-1 draw against a Belgium team including Eden Hazard in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying on 6 June.

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