Zürcher Nachrichten - Lille aim to be 'party poopers' against European champions Chelsea

EUR -
AED 4.160921
AFN 78.860625
ALL 98.354729
AMD 433.549279
ANG 2.027437
AOA 1038.822834
ARS 1294.806775
AUD 1.758018
AWG 2.041961
AZN 1.928581
BAM 1.961322
BBD 2.27676
BDT 137.226335
BGN 1.95544
BHD 0.427105
BIF 3355.257241
BMD 1.132849
BND 1.461777
BOB 7.791937
BRL 6.423482
BSD 1.12755
BTN 96.458948
BWP 15.217506
BYN 3.690107
BYR 22203.84675
BZD 2.265027
CAD 1.573658
CDF 3222.956016
CHF 0.934822
CLF 0.027835
CLP 1068.141218
CNY 8.179056
CNH 8.16261
COP 4728.173223
CRC 570.593807
CUC 1.132849
CUP 30.020507
CVE 110.579733
CZK 24.884173
DJF 200.790858
DKK 7.458397
DOP 66.385431
DZD 150.139932
EGP 56.472564
ERN 16.99274
ETB 153.040178
FJD 2.564202
FKP 0.847153
GBP 0.845072
GEL 3.104114
GGP 0.847153
GHS 13.756729
GIP 0.847153
GMD 82.153804
GNF 9767.325628
GTQ 8.656945
GYD 235.914172
HKD 8.873059
HNL 29.347976
HRK 7.540016
HTG 147.601636
HUF 402.546661
IDR 18522.086447
ILS 4.019232
IMP 0.847153
INR 97.048373
IQD 1477.139048
IRR 47707.11967
ISK 144.890174
JEP 0.847153
JMD 179.300831
JOD 0.803116
JPY 163.200569
KES 146.47499
KGS 99.06777
KHR 4513.587628
KMF 495.620557
KPW 1019.578439
KRW 1572.440423
KWD 0.347717
KYD 0.939633
KZT 577.297629
LAK 24386.11636
LBP 101424.393992
LKR 339.287713
LRD 225.539897
LSL 20.297195
LTL 3.34501
LVL 0.685249
LYD 6.181266
MAD 10.440192
MDL 19.619803
MGA 5089.215418
MKD 61.593411
MMK 2378.357794
MNT 4056.341871
MOP 9.090773
MRU 44.663757
MUR 51.476353
MVR 17.513981
MWK 1955.261521
MXN 21.856851
MYR 4.840097
MZN 72.386506
NAD 20.297375
NGN 1806.99684
NIO 41.495725
NOK 11.51581
NPR 154.321056
NZD 1.909939
OMR 0.436102
PAB 1.127574
PEN 4.161962
PGK 4.689119
PHP 63.034565
PKR 318.881614
PLN 4.241154
PYG 9006.156388
QAR 4.121877
RON 5.075846
RSD 117.356135
RUB 90.934228
RWF 1593.651457
SAR 4.249079
SBD 9.444715
SCR 16.371832
SDG 680.267259
SEK 10.845565
SGD 1.462486
SHP 0.890242
SLE 25.712767
SLL 23755.284141
SOS 644.399966
SRD 41.519052
STD 23447.693793
SVC 9.866647
SYP 14729.853487
SZL 20.290677
THB 37.122909
TJS 11.581372
TMT 3.970637
TND 3.384452
TOP 2.653248
TRY 44.001663
TTD 7.655383
TWD 34.169564
TZS 3055.859748
UAH 46.738853
UGX 4119.597952
USD 1.132849
UYU 47.246141
UZS 14498.626177
VES 107.26262
VND 29415.565546
VUV 137.41987
WST 3.138096
XAF 657.79438
XAG 0.034151
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.061582
XDR 0.818085
XOF 657.79438
XPF 119.331742
YER 276.296913
ZAR 20.294633
ZMK 10197.001036
ZMW 30.566379
ZWL 364.77702
  • RIO

    -0.1500

    62.24

    -0.24%

  • CMSC

    0.1000

    22.26

    +0.45%

  • SCS

    -0.1000

    10.25

    -0.98%

  • RBGPF

    67.2000

    67.2

    +100%

  • NGG

    0.9900

    73.42

    +1.35%

  • RYCEF

    0.0800

    11

    +0.73%

  • CMSD

    0.0015

    22.17

    +0.01%

  • RELX

    -0.0400

    54.99

    -0.07%

  • GSK

    0.4400

    38.4

    +1.15%

  • VOD

    0.7500

    10.39

    +7.22%

  • BTI

    0.8600

    44.44

    +1.94%

  • BCC

    -1.2700

    89.92

    -1.41%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    21.66

    +0.42%

  • BP

    -0.2000

    29.2

    -0.68%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    12.82

    +0.23%

  • AZN

    0.2300

    69.92

    +0.33%

Lille aim to be 'party poopers' against European champions Chelsea
Lille aim to be 'party poopers' against European champions Chelsea

Lille aim to be 'party poopers' against European champions Chelsea

A Lille side sitting in mid-table in Ligue 1 head to London to face Chelsea this week hoping to play the role of "party poopers" against the reigning European champions, their coach Jocelyn Gourvennec told AFP.

Text size:

Recent Club World Cup winners Chelsea are heavy favourites to beat Lille in their Champions League last-16 tie as Thomas Tuchel's side look to retain the title they won by beating Manchester City in last season's final.

Lille already exceeded expectations just by reaching the last 16 of Europe's elite club competition for the first time since 2006/07 and, as they make the short trip to the other side of the English Channel for the first leg, their aim is to keep the tie alive for the return.

"We are competitors so we will not be going there just to be Chelsea's sparring partners, that's for sure," Gourvennec said.

"They are a great team but there are always surprises in cup matches and we want to be the party poopers, as we have been since the beginning of this Champions League campaign."

The side from France's far north caused a major upset by winning the French title last season ahead of star-studded Paris Saint-Germain and they then topped their Champions League section above Austrian champions Salzburg, Sevilla and Wolfsburg.

However, they find themselves in 11th place in the French top flight two-thirds of the way through this season, nine points adrift of the podium with only the top three qualifying for the Champions League.

- Squad weakened -

Gourvennec always faced an enormous challenge following on from Christophe Galtier, the title-winning coach who departed for Nice after last season.

They lost French international goalkeeper Mike Maignan to AC Milan and midfielder Boubakaray Soumare to Leicester City before this campaign began, and in January winger Jonathan Ikone -- capped four times by France -- was sold to Fiorentina.

Lille are a club with financial difficulties, even with the millions generated by a run in the Champions League, but Gourvennec hopes they can compete on the field over two legs with one of the most powerful teams in world football.

"We will need to resist the pressure, especially in the first leg so we have a chance for the return," said the 49-year-old, who played alongside Claude Makelele in the Nantes team that reached the Champions League semi-finals in 1996 before losing to Juventus.

Tuesday's match will be followed by the second leg at Lille's Stade Pierre-Mauroy on March 16.

"We need to try to create chances, but we will need to really be at a high level and raise our game."

Lille have tended to look to Canadian striker Jonathan David for inspiration this season, with his tally of 16 goals including three in the last three Champions League group games.

However, he has not scored at all in 2022, while veteran Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz has struggled to rediscover his form of last season and has also not found the net this calendar year.

Gourvennec, who is also waiting to see if Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches will be able to play, believes Lille need to approach the game in the same way as they go into meetings with PSG.

The Qatar-owned club, who had Tuchel as their coach from 2018 to December 2020, were beaten by Lille in France's season-opening Champions Trophy last August and then had to come from behind to win 2-1 in Paris in October.

However, PSG then won 5-1 in Lille earlier this month.

"We will need to be solid, defend well and hold on to the ball when we win it back," said Gourvennec, who also played for Marseille in the 1999 UEFA Cup final alongside the likes of Laurent Blanc and Robert Pires.

"It will be a bit like our matches against Paris in that we will have to try to keep possession, make our opponents do the running and have spells where we calm the tempo of the game because we can't be chasing the ball all the time."

A.Weber--NZN