(Football news) Villa hopes to reach its first European quarterfinal since the UEFA Cup of 1997–98, although LOSC will be competing in their first continental competition at this late point.
Aston Villa, who returned to Europe after a 13-year break, have made significant progress since losing their opening group-stage match in September, falling to Legia Warsaw 3-2 in Poland.
Since then, the Birmingham team has advanced as the winners of Group E and is only two rounds away from the championship game next month. They achieved this by winning five of their seven Conference League games without a loss.
Villa’s last-16 success against Ajax came after a tense first-leg draw in Amsterdam, as they then strode to a 4-0 victory over the fallen giants on home turf and sealed a spot in their fifth UEFA quarter-final.
Including qualifiers, they have won all of their Conference League home games this season, and should they defeat Lille, the Premier League side will reach six straight European wins at Villa Park for the first time ever.
Back in 1982, Villa were crowned champions of Europe by beating Bayern Munich, while more recently, their Basque boss Unai Emery built an unrivalled reputation as king of the Europa League, lifting the trophy in three successive seasons as head coach of Sevilla, and then once again with Villarreal.
Emery has also won his last seven quarter-finals in continental competition, having only ever lost one tie at this stage, and his subsequent work in England’s top flight has restored Aston Villa to their former status of top-six contenders.
However, last week’s 3-3 draw with Brentford – in which the Villans led by two goals but then trailed 3-2 before Ollie Watkins equalised – was a case of more points dropped in the Premier League, where they slipped to fifth in the table after being overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur.
A crucial game against title contenders Arsenal awaits on Sunday, so whether the pursuit of a Champions League takes precedence over tackling Lille remains to be seen – Emery’s team selection could indicate his thoughts in that respect.
Ligue 1 winners as recently as 2021, Lille may have made the Champions League’s last 16 only two years ago, but they will be first-time UEFA quarter-finalists on Thursday.
With a progressive style of play under ex-Roma coach Paulo Fonseca, Les Dogues have impressed in the French top flight this term, with only an inability to turn draws into wins stopping them topping the ‘best of the rest’ rankings behind imperious leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Meanwhile, in Europe, they have averaged the most ball possession (65%), most successful passes in the opposition half and most completed passes in the final third of any team in the Conference League this season.
Winners of Group A before the turn of the year, Lille pushed past Sturm Graz in the last 16, with a 4-1 aggregate victory – most of the work was done during the first leg, which they won 3-0 in Austria.
This season, Fonseca’s team has not lost in ten Conference League games (including playoff games). They have also only allowed three goals in total, never giving up more than one goal in a game.
LOSC defeated Marseille 3-1 over the weekend, moving them up to fourth place in Ligue 1, but they are only four points behind second place. They are also yet to lose at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in 2024.
Lille has only managed to lose six of their seven previous key European games in England, scoring one goal, therefore they will need to break past history in order to secure a first-leg advantage before to next week’s championship encounter.
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