Lille vs Juventus

Stade Pierre-Mauroy sets the stage for a first-ever UEFA Champions League meeting between Lille and Juventus.

Lille cannot stop impressing in this season’s Champions League. After beating Real Madrid 1-0 on this ground on matchday two, they toppled Atletico Madrid 3-1 on the road last time out to solidify their pursuit of automatic knockout qualification following a 2-0 loss at Sporting CP in round one. Bruno Genesio’s charges have gone into overdrive since that defeat in Lisbon, racking up an eye-catching eight-game unbeaten streak across all competitions (W5, D3). Defensively resilient, they kept four clean sheets during that sequence, albeit they conceded a 90th-minute equalizer in a frustrating 1-1 Ligue 1 home draw against Lyon last weekend. Les Gones have been atypically vulnerable at home, failing to record a shutout in five of their six most recent outings at Stade Pierre-Mauroy (W2, D2, L1).

On the other hand, Juventus relinquished their winning start to their first Champions League campaign since 2022/23 (W2) in the last round, slumping to a 1-0 home defeat to Stuttgart. Thiago Motta’s men have since struggled to get back on track in Serie A, posting back-to-back high-scoring draws against Inter Milan and Parma before downing Udinese 2-0 at the weekend to whittle down the gap on table-topping Napoli to four points. Defensive solidity has been the backbone of Juventus’ impressive start to life under Motta, with ‘I Bianconeri’ keeping four clean sheets on their six competitive road trips this season (W4, D2). What’s more remarkable is that they netted 2+ goals in five of those six matches!