Ligue 1 in Europe: Matchday 5 Preview (Europa League)

By: Sarah | December 2nd, 2009

Last week saw two huge performances from Ligue 1 in Europe as Bordeaux beat Juventus 2-0 to secure their first place finish in their group and Marseille displayed a brilliant performance at the San Siro (though only managed a draw). Will Lille and Toulouse be able to continue this streak?

Valencia vs. Lille (Group B, December 2)

Everyone can still qualify in Group B so expect everyone to play to win. In game 1, Valencia traveled to Lille and managed a draw. They will be feeling more confident on taking all three points at home since they have managed to beat the last 7 French teams that visited them and are unbeatean in their last 8 European home games. Though Lille have never managed to win in Spain, their weekend derby 4-0 win against Valenciennes should give them confidence for this match. Lille are currently first in the group, 1 point ahead of Valencia and Genoa who are level with 6 points. If Valencia win this match, they will leapfrog Lille in the group to take the top spot. Getting a draw out of this game will be key for Lille– otherwise they risk being pushed into third place if both Valencia and Genoa win today.

Toulouse vs. FK Partizan (Group J, December 3)

Partizan is already eliminated and a win in this game for Toulouse means they have a chance to play Clubbe Brugge for one of the top two group places. So expect Toulouse be aggressive from the start- afterall, they are the only one in this game with something to lose. If Toulouse do not win this game, they will have to hope that Brugge will draw or lose against Shaktar Donetsk to have a chance at qualification. Luckily for Toulouse, Shaktar is a tough team. But there is no reason why Toulouse needs to rely on someone else to do their dirty work. Disposing of Partizan should be relatively easy. They have already managed to beat Partizan in Serbia and Partizan has never won a game in France.