Playing in the Europa League knockout stage for the second time this decade, Lille will battle Red Star Belgrade in the opening leg of their playoff clash on Thursday at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Les Dogues finished 18th in the League Phase portion of this tournament, defeating Freiburg 1-0 on the final matchday, while the Serbians wound up two points above them in 15th after drawing 1-1 with Celta Vigo.
Match preview
Things have not been trending well domestically for Lille of late, but they ended the previous phase of this competition on a positive note.
Bruno Genesio’s side have dropped points in six successive Ligue 1 affairs, with their victory over Freiburg in late January being their only one so far in 2026.
Three of their four home matches in the League Phase ended with the northern French club collecting maximum points, while they also picked up two clean sheets along the way.
Thursday will mark their first appearance in the knockout phase of the Europa League since 2021, when they were eliminated in the playoff round by Ajax. 4-2 on aggregate.
While they have lost their last three knockout contests in this competition, Lille are unbeaten in three of their previous four knockout home affairs in the Europa League as well, with their last such triumph coming against Liverpool in the 2010 round of 16.
This will mark just their second home game in the Europa League versus a Serbian opponent, with Les Nordistes holding a 100% record in Lille against that nation, defeating Sloboda Uzice 2-0 in 2010 at Stadium Lille Metropole.
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© Imago / Starsport
After a slow start to the League Phase, Red Star picked up steam down the stretch of 2025 in Europe and kept that going into this year.
Early on they claimed just one point after the first two matchdays, but they enter the knockout phase on a five-match unbeaten run in Europe.
Under Dejan Stankovic this team are unbeaten in six straight matches, with their only defeat in 2026 coming in a January friendly against Red Bull Salzburg (2-0).
So far in February, this team have dominated their opponents, winning all four of their competitive fixtures this month by a combined margin of 15-2.
Meanwhile, they won their previous two Europa League away encounters by a 1-0 margin, but this week will seek their first away triumph in the playoff round of this tournament.
Red Star have never won an away contest in France in normal time, but triumphed in their only previous meeting with Lille, 1-0 in the League Phase of this competition.
Lille Europa League form:
Lille form (all competitions):
Red Star Belgrade Europa League form:
Red Star Belgrade form (all competitions):
Team News
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© Imago
Hamstring issues will likely keep Noah Edjouma and Thomas Meunier on the Lille sidelines, Osame Sahraoui has a sore groin, Marc-Aurele Caillard has an elbow issue, Ethan Mbappe Lottin is doubtful due to a leg problem, while Hamza Igamane and Ousmane Toure are out because of cruciate ligament tears.
Olivier Giroud converted a 92nd-minute penalty on matchday eight, while Berke Ozer did not have to make a single stop to collect a clean sheet.
Between matchday seven and eight, three changes were made to the Red Star starting 11, with Vasilije Kostov, Nikola Stankovic and Aleksandar Katai replacing captain Mirko Ivanic, Tomas Handel and Milson, with the latter loaned to Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates for the remainder of the season.
Bruno Duarte came on for Marko Arnautovic with just over 11 minutes remaining against the Spaniards, scoring one minute before the 90 to give his side a point.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Ozer; Santos, Mandi, Ngoy, Verdonk; Mukau, Andre, Bouaddi, Correia; Giroud, Fernandez-Pardo
Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Seol, Rodrigao, Veljkovic, Tiknizyan; Lucic, Elsnik, Krunic, Radonjic; Katai, Arnautovic
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We say: Lille 1-1 Red Star Belgrade
On paper, we believe the home side are better, but psychologically, they lack confidence right now, and we expect the Serbians to surprise them and earn a positive result in this opening match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.