Lille vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League title defense continues at Stade Pierre-Mauroy with their first-ever encounter against Lille.

Lille found a way out of a long-running crisis last weekend, demolishing Le Havre 3-0 in Ligue 1 for their first win in all competitions in over a month (D1, L4). That disheartening run included a 2-0 defeat to Sporting Lisbon in their Champions League opener, and another unwanted result looks like a virtual certainty ahead of Real Madrid’s arrival in town. Les Dogues have failed to win their last four home matches against Spanish clubs (D3, L1). However, Stade Pierre-Mauroy has recently stood firm in Europe, with Bruno Genesio’s side racking up an eye-catching seven wins across their last eight continental games on home turf (D1), suggesting a positive result against the 15-time European champions isn’t an impossible task.

Lille’s home prowess may disturb Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who laments an indifferent away record against Les Dogues (W2, D1, L2). Los Blancos are still favorites to take home three points despite a frustrating 1-1 draw against bitter rivals Atletico Madrid last weekend. Yet to lose in 2024/25 (W7, D3), Ancelotti’s charges conceded a 95th-minute equalizer to renounce a five-match winning streak in competitive action, which included a 3-1 victory against Stuttgart in their curtain-raising Champions League fixture. With Kylian Mbappe’s availability hanging by a thread due to a hamstring injury, Real Madrid may feel scared of this trip, considering they’ve managed just one win on their last four Champions League visits to France (D1, L2) – each time to face Paris Saint-Germain.