UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stade Pierre Mauroy - Villeneuve d'Ascq Thursday 3 December 2020 LOSC Lille 18.55CET (18.55 local time) AC Sparta Praha Group H - Matchday 5 Last updated 25/08/2021 15:34CET Previous meetings 2 Match background 4 Team facts 6 Squad list 8 Fixtures and results 11 Match-by-match lineups 15 Match officials 17 Legend 18 1 LOSC Lille - AC Sparta Praha Thursday 3 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit Stade Pierre Mauroy, Villeneuve d'Ascq Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Dočkal 47; Yusuf 22/10/2020 GS AC Sparta Praha - LOSC Lille 1-4 Prague Yazıcı 45+1, 60, 75, Ikoné 66 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA LOSC Lille 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 1 AC Sparta Praha 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 LOSC Lille - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Cabaye 25, Gervinho Villeneuve 17/12/2009 GS LOSC Lille - SK Slavia Praha 3-1 40, Obraniak 80; d'Ascq Vlček 56 Belaid 6 (P); Suchý 47 (og), Frau 71, 01/10/2009 GS SK Slavia Praha - LOSC Lille 1-5 Prague Gervinho 85, 90+1, Souquet 88 AC Sparta Praha - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers AC Sparta Praha - Olympique Hušbauer 53; Benzia 22/11/2012 GS 1-1 Prague Lyonnais 46 Olympique Lyonnais - AC Gomis 59, Lisandro 20/09/2012 GS 2-1 Lyon Sparta Praha 62; Krejčí 77 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Elmander 14, 08/11/2007 GS Toulouse FC - AC Sparta Praha 2-3 Toulouse Mansaré 80; Kisel 67, 88, Došek 68 UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Essien 7, Nilmar 19, Olympique Lyonnais - AC 08/12/2004 GS 5-0 Lyon 51, Idangar 83, Sparta Praha Bergougnoux 90+1 AC Sparta Praha - Olympique Jun 7; Essien 25, 28/09/2004 GS 1-2 Prague Lyonnais Wiltord 58 2 LOSC Lille - AC Sparta Praha Thursday 3 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit Stade Pierre Mauroy, Villeneuve d'Ascq UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers FC Girondins de Bordeaux - AC 26/10/1999 GS1 0-0 Bordeaux Sparta Praha AC Sparta Praha - FC Girondins 15/09/1999 GS1 0-0 Prague de Bordeaux European Champions Clubs' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers AC Sparta Praha - Olympique de 2-1 Frýdek 37, Siegl 69; 06/11/1991 R2 Prague Marseille agg: 4-4 ag Ayew 85 Waddle 35, Papin 55, Olympique de Marseille - AC 23/10/1991 R2 3-2 Marseille 59; Vrabec 64 (P), Sparta Praha Kukleta 79 (P) Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA LOSC Lille 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 12 3 AC Sparta Praha 5 1 2 2 5 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 10 2 3 5 11 20 3 LOSC Lille - AC Sparta Praha Thursday 3 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit Stade Pierre Mauroy, Villeneuve d'Ascq Match background Unbeaten and on top of Group H, LOSC Lille will nevertheless be eager to end their long run of European home games without a win as they host Sparta Praha in the knowledge that three points will confirm their qualification for the round of 32. • LOSC leapfrogged AC Milan to the Group H summit with a famous 3-0 win at San Siro on Matchday 3, which they consolidated with a 1-1 draw against the Serie A side to move on to eight points, one more than Milan and two more than Sparta, who charged back into contention with back-to-back 4-1 wins against Celtic, eliminating the Scottish champions in the process. A third successive victory would lift the Czech side above LOSC into the top two. Previous meetings • The clubs met in UEFA competition for the first time on Group H's opening night, the game in Prague proving to be a memorable occasion for LOSC as they ended an extraordinary run of 17 European games without a win by stunning ten-man Sparta with a 4-1 victory in which Turkish international midfielder Yusuf Yazıcı opened his European goal account with a hat-trick. • LOSC's only previous experience of Czech opposition before Matchday 1 was a couple of comprehensive wins against Sparta's city rivals Slavia Praha (5-1 a, 3-1 h) in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage. That victory in Prague remains the French club's biggest, home and away, in UEFA competition. • Sparta's record in France is W1 D1 L3, the sole victory 3-2 at Toulouse in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage. On their last visit to the country, in 2012, they were beaten 2-1 at Lyon on UEFA Europa League Matchday 1, Ladislav Krejčí scoring their consolation goal, but still made it through to the next phase. Form guide LOSC • LOSC are in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the fourth time thanks to the fourth place they occupied when last season's Ligue 1 campaign ended in March. Christophe Galtier's side also competed in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League, finishing bottom of a group containing Chelsea, Valencia and Ajax. • The club from northern France last participated in the UEFA Europa League group stage in 2014/15, when they failed to win a game (D4 L2). Their other two group campaigns, in 2009/10 and 2010/11, were more successful as they reached the knockout phase on both occasions. • Les Dogues are without a win in 14 European home matches (D7 L7) and have registered just nine goals over that stretch, three of them this season in draws against Celtic (2-2) and Milan. Although their all-time home record in the UEFA Europa League proper is W6 D6 L2, the last of those victories dates back almost a decade to Matchday 6 of their domestic double-winning 2010/11 season, when they beat Gent 3-0. Sparta • Sparta won the 2019/20 Czech Cup, beating Slovan Liberec 2-1 in the final, to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage, where they are appearing for the seventh time, the first under new coach Václav Kotal. They have made it through to the knockout phase in four of their previous six participations, reaching the quarter-finals in 2015/16. • This is the club's 38th successive European campaign but their first in a group stage since 2016/17, when they finished top of a UEFA Europa League section containing Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Southampton and Internazionale before going out in the round of 32 to Rostov (0-4 a, 1-1 h). Since then Sparta have been eliminated on entry in the UEFA Europa League qualifying phase three summers running, going out last season to Trabzonspor in the second qualifying round (2-2 h, 1-2 a). • Sparta were on a run of six successive European away defeats until they beat Celtic in Glasgow on Matchday 3. Their record on the road in the UEFA Europa League group stage is now W6 D5 L9. Links and trivia • Sparta's Ondřej Čelůstka was in the Slavia side that lost 3-1 in Lille in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage; he missed the earlier 5-1 defeat. • LOSC's Burak Yılmaz scored for Turkey against Czech Republic in the UEFA EURO 2016 group stage, helping his country to a 2-0 win in Lens against a side featuring Sparta's Bořek Dočkal. • Yusuf Yazıcı, with hat-tricks away to Sparta and Milan, is the leading scorer in this season’s UEFA Europa League group stage with six goals. One behind him, in joint second place, is Sparta striker Lukáš Juliš, whose five goals all came against Celtic. • LOSC's fourth participation in the UEFA Europa League group stage matches the French record jointly held by Bordeaux, Marseille and St-Étienne. 4 LOSC Lille - AC Sparta Praha Thursday 3 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit Stade Pierre Mauroy, Villeneuve d'Ascq • Sparta's seventh appearance in the UEFA Europa League group stage is the most made by a Czech club. 5 LOSC Lille - AC Sparta Praha Thursday 3 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit Stade Pierre Mauroy, Villeneuve d'Ascq Team facts LOSC Lille Formed: 1944 Nickname: Les Dogues (The Mastiffs) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2004 Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 3 (2011) French Cup: 6 (2011) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League unless indicated otherwise) 2019/20: UEFA Champions League group stage 2018/19: did not take part in UEFA competition 2017/18: did not take part in UEFA competition 2016/17: third qualifying round 2015/16: did not take part in UEFA competition 2014/15: group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League play-offs) 2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition 2012/13: UEFA Champions League group stage 2011/12: UEFA Champions League group stage 2010/11: round of 32 Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 3-0 four times, most recently v Gent 16/12/10, UEFA Europa League group stage • Biggest away win 1-5: Slavia Praha v LOSC 01/10/09, UEFA Europa League group stage • Heaviest home defeat 0-3: LOSC v Wolfsburg 11/12/14, UEFA Europa League group stage • Heaviest away defeat 6-1: Bayern München v LOSC 07/11/12, UEFA Champions League group stage UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League • Biggest home win 3-0 twice, most recently v Gent (see above) • Biggest away win 1-5: Slavia Praha v LOSC (see above) • Heaviest home defeat 0-3: LOSC v Wolfsburg (see above) • Heaviest away defeat 3-0 twice, most recently v Everton 06/11/14, group stage AC Sparta Praha Formed: 1893 Nickname: Železná Sparta (Iron Sparta) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • none Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 36 (2014) Czechoslovakian/Czech Cups: 21 (2020) 6 LOSC Lille - AC Sparta Praha Thursday 3 December 2020 - 18.55CET (18.55 local time) Match press kit Stade Pierre