Lillevs.Real Madrid

Reigning champions Real Madrid made the perfect start, beating Stuttgart on matchday one, while Lille returned to the top table of European football with defeat in Portugal.

Match preview

In what has been an unbeaten start so far for Real Madrid, they backed up their opening day victory in this competition with two more wins over Espanyol and Alaves.

In one of the biggest games of the season at the weekend though, Los Blancos dropped two points late on in an ill-tempered affair with bitter rivals Atletico Madrid.

Crowd trouble saw the game halted briefly in the second half with Real leading 1-0, but Atletico came back out and found a late leveller, with Angel Correa scoring five minutes into added time.

Barcelona's shock defeat at Osasuna does mean that Real have closed the gap at the top to three points, but with the knowledge that it could have been just one point if they held on for a few more minutes.

Attention will now switch to their favourite competition, as the 15-time winners travel to France hoping to end a current two-game losing run in the country, both of which came against Paris Saint-Germain.

While it is the first time the two clubs have met, manager Carlo Ancelotti has a slightly underwhelming record against Lille, having won only two of his five meetings with their upcoming opponents.

Real are unbeaten in 14 Champions League games though - winning 10 - and they could equal the streak they recorded between April 2016 and May 2017, when they went 15 undefeated under Zinedine Zidane, if they pick up a result here.

That impressive run will be put to the test during this league phase though, as the holders will face two particularly tricky trips to Liverpool and Atalanta later in the campaign.

Lille will hope they can be the club to halt that run though, and they will be pleased to have ended a recent winless streak at the weekend heading into this huge fixture for the club.

Bruno Genesio's men were the only French outfit not to win on matchday one, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Sporting Lisbon, and they responded by dropping more points in the league a few days later.

A 3-3 draw with Strasbourg saw them throw a 2-0 lead away, and extend their winless run to five, but that came to an end at the weekend, thanks to a Jonathan David-inspired performance at Le Havre.

Les Dogues ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Stade Oceane, with the Canadian netting a treble, arresting their worst winless run in over six years, just in time for the visit of the European champions.

That confidence boost may still be in vain, given the quality of the opposition, but Lille have won seven of their last eight European home games since the start of last season, with a 1-1 draw against Sturm Graz the only exception.

Their most recent encounter with a Spanish side also ended in victory, as they defeated Sevilla 2-1 in this competition in 2021, which at the time ended a run of eight without victory against clubs from the country.

Lille Champions League form:

W

D

W

L

L

Lille form (all competitions):

L

L

L

L

D

W

Real Madrid Champions League form:

W

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

W

D

Team News

Kylian Mbappe will not be able to make a quick return to France after leaving PSG over the summer, as he has been ruled out until after the international break with a thigh injury.

Fran Garcia was left in a heap after an ugly challenge saw Marcos Llorente sent off in the Madrid derby, making him a doubt for this one, and Thibaut Courtois will also undergo a late fitness test after sustaining a muscle problem at the Metropolitano.

David Alaba continues his long-term recovery from an ACL tear, while Brahim Diaz and Dani Ceballos are also sidelined at present, but there was good news, as Eduardo Camavinga returned to the squad at the weekend after over a month out.

Lille are set to remain without influential young midfielder Hakon Arnar Haraldsson, with the Icelandic international suffering from a foot injury.

Luckily for Genesio, he has two players in scintillating form, as wide man Edon Zhegrova and central striker David have scored Lille's last eight goals between them - netting four each.

Elsewhere on the injury front, Ismaily and Samuel Umtiti are out with knee issues, and Nabil Bentaleb is still struck down by illness, so remains a doubt.

Lille possible starting lineup:

Chevalier; Tiago Santos, Diakite, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson; Andre, Andre Gomes, Angel Gomes; Zhegrova, David, Sahraoui

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Lunin; Carvajal, Eder Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga, Tchouameni; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior

We say: Lille 1-3 Real Madrid

Even without Mbappe, Real's firepower is frightening, and despite being put under intense pressure by Stuttgart on matchday one, they should be able to add another three points here, simply by outscoring the opposition.

Previews by email