Ten years after its last participation in a round of 16 of the Europa League (against PSV Eindhoven), Lille finds a Dutch club.
The leader of Ligue 1 will face Ajax Amsterdam next February (first leg on February 17 in Lille and return on February 25 in the Netherlands).
Even if Lille, the last French representatives in C3, avoided Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal or Naples on Monday, it will not be an easy draw against a training transferred from the Champions League.
The Northerners will again cross the road of a mythical club quadruple winner of the C1 (last success in 1995).
Their double confrontation in the premier event ended in two defeats in the group stage in 2019, a season in which Ajax continued their journey to the semi-final, eliminated by the English Tottenham thanks to a goal to the last minute of the former Parisian Lucas.
This season, the Amsterdamers occupy the first place in their championship and therefore participated in the group stage of the Champions League.
Placed in Pool D with Liverpool, Ajax let slip the 2nd place synonymous with qualifying for the round of 16 after a home defeat on the last day last Wednesday against Atalanta Bergamo (0-1).
A brilliant group stage
This meeting will have a special flavor for the excellent Batavian central defender Sven Botman, trained at Ajax and loaned to Losc last July before being permanently transferred there on September 25.
With a strong and talented workforce, Lille have the profile to achieve a good campaign in the Europa League and perhaps win a competition that has never smiled on a club tricolor.
"I can see Lille achieving a big surprise in C3 this season" Luis Fernandez told us last Thursday, winner of the C2 with PSG in 1996. Lille has just achieved a brilliant group stage even if it ended with a 2nd place (behind AC Milan).
Christophe Galtier's men notably achieved the feat of winning (0-3) at San Siro at AC Milan, undefeated leader of series A. That evening, Turkish attacking midfielder Yusuf Yasici had scored a hat-trick (as in the previous match at Sparta Prague).
In L 1, the Lille are having an almost perfect first part of the season since they occupy the head of the championship after the 14th day and have only one defeat (3-2 in Brest).
After a trip to Dijon on Wednesday, Jonathan Bamba's teammates will receive PSG this Sunday for the shock of the 16th day of L1.