The struggling Ligue 1 giants would be looking to end their Champions League campaign on a positive note as they host Spanish giants Valencia at the Grand Stade tonight in their final group game
Ending on a high
As they get ready to take on La Liga side Valencia in their final group game of the Champions League, LOSC Lille know that they have to go for a win against the Spaniards in a bid to end their forgettable Champions League campaign on a high.
Les Dogues won against BATE Borisov in their previous UCL encounter but the victory came a little too late for Rudi Garcia’s side who will have to spend the rest of the season watching European games on television rather than being a part of them.
Regardless of the outcome of their final group game against Los Che, Lille will not be playing in the Europa League and they have no one but themselves to blame for all this. It’s a repeat of the Ligue 1 side’s poor showing in the Champions League from last
season where they also finished bottom of the group despite playing some exciting football.
However, despite all this, Garcia would be looking to see his side sign off from the competition for at least this season in style against a Valencia side that has already qualified for the knockout phases of the competition along with German Bundesliga
powerhouse, Bayern Munich.
Ahead of their ‘au revoir’ game against Los Che, Rudi Garcia has said that the team owes it to themselves to register a good result against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 even though there is nothing at stake in the game tonight.
“We are going to do all we can to end this European campaign on a positive note. Mathematically, there is nothing at stake, but we will be at home and we owe it to ourselves to put in a good performance.”
Les Dogues captain, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rio-Mavuba-c31174 was in the Lille squad that was eliminated in the first round of the competition last season and the France international’s fortunes haven’t changed this time around either. However, the robust midfielder says that the team
will play well because he is not sure if Lille will be playing in this competition again next season.
“There is always plenty of motivation going into a Champions League match. That is even more the case as we don’t know when we will get the chance to sample this competition again.”
A strong finish necessary
Valencia on the other hand, having already qualified for the knockout phases, know that they still have a lot to play for. The Spaniards know that if they manage to better Bayern Munich’s score against BATE Borisov (given the Germans beat the Belarusians),
they will top the group.
Furthermore, Los Che would be looking to move on from the 5-2 defeat they suffered at the Mestalla against Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Adil-Rami-c3639 would be making his first trip to Lille for whom he played for a few years back. And, new manager, Salvador Gonzalez would be looking to start his managerial career with Los Che on a positive note as Valencia look to register
their second group stage win over Les Dogues.
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