Lens welcome Freiburg to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis for the first leg of their Europa League playoff knockout round tie on Thursday.
The hosts dropped out of the Champions League on their return to the European stage after over a decade away, while Freiburg made it out of their Europa League group for a second straight season.
Match preview
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In their first season back in Europe since 2007-08, Lens made it a memorable group stage for the supporters despite only finishing third and slipping into the Europa League.
Even though Franck Haise's side were thumped at the Emirates by Arsenal, home wins over the Gunners and Sevilla saw jubilant scenes at the Bollaert-Delelis, as they remained unbeaten on home soil through the group stage.
On the return of European action, Lens are in great form too, having won three on the spin to move themselves into the top six.
Having been in the bottom three with just one point from their opening five games, Lens now are just four points shy of second-placed Nice, with dreams of another season in the Champions League now a real possibility.
That would see Lens be able to label themselves somewhat as European regulars again, after being so during the 1990s and 2000s.
This competition in its old format of the UEFA Cup brought some memorable moments too, including their run to the semi-finals in 2000, where they were eventually eliminated by Arsenal.
Standing in their way of going on another run on the continent is Freiburg, who themselves are starting to get used to regular European football under Christian Streich.
After dismal results saw them knocked out in the group stage by Slovan Liberec in 2013-14 and in qualifying by Slovenian minnows Domzale in 2017-18, Freiburg are now showing more pedigree in the Europa League.
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This is the second successive season in which they have progressed past the group stage, after losing to Juventus in the last 16 last season following an impressive unbeaten group campaign.
That saw them skip this preliminary round entirely, but to reach the last 16 this time around, Freiburg must end a 23-year wait for a knockout win on the continent, with St Gallen of Switzerland the last side they managed to get past in a two-legged affair.
Freiburg's form in the group stage was hugely impressive, as they finished only narrowly behind West Ham United, mainly thanks to thumping 5-0 home wins over both Olympiacos and TSC Backa Topola.
Only fellow German side Bayer Leverkusen scored more than Freiburg's 17 across the group phase, but it is no secret that Streich's men are suffering at present.
An underwhelming start to 2024 has damaged their hopes of qualifying for Europe again next season, as three straight defeats coming into this clash leave them four points off Eintracht Frankfurt in the final qualification spot.
Team News
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Lens have been able to welcome back Salis Abdul Samed and Morgan Guilavogui from international duty in the past week, and both could make their first starts since here.
Nampalys Mendy and Abdukodir Khusanov have both also recently returned, but are both likely to remain on the bench, while Jimmy Cabot and Deiver Machado are currently out injured.
Facundo Medina will be absent for the hosts, as three group stage yellow cards in the Champions League will see him serve a one-match suspension.
Freiburg saw Manuel Gulde forced off just midway through the first half in their defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Friday.
That could give new signing Attila Szalai an opportunity to come into the side though, while captain Christian Gunter is also making big strides in his return from injury, having missed almost all of the season so far.
Merlin Rohl will be available with his domestic suspension not carrying into European competitions, while Ritsu Doan could also get a first start since returning from Japan duty at the Asian Cup.
Matthias Ginter, Philipp Lienhart and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh are just some of the players currently on a lengthy injury list for the visitors at present though.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Aguilar, Danso, Gradit; Frankowski, Diouf, Abdul Samed, Jhoanner Chaves; Sotoca, Wahi, Guilavogui
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Kubler, Sildillia, Szalai, Gunter; Eggestein, Hofler; Doan, Sallai, Grifo; Gregoritsch
We say: Lens 2-1 Freiburg
With Lens coming into the game on the back of a three-game winning run, and Freiburg having lost three on the bounce, there is no doubt as to who will come into the tie with more confidence.
Lens are also extremely difficult to beat at home, given the raucous atmosphere at the Bollaert-Delelis, and Freiburg have lost their last four away games, but the tie will most probably still hang in the balance ahead of next week's second leg, despite a home win looking likely.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
