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Lille relish Stade de France challenge [Fri Sep 2nd, 2005]
Camphin-en-Pevele (Reuters) - Lille, who play their home Ligue 1 matches in a stadium which holds less than 20,000 fans, are looking forward to entertaining their UEFA Champions League rivals at the showcase Stade de France.
"It's a challenge but we're ready for it," Lille deputy president Xavier Thuillot said, when asked how it felt to be able to play the likes of Manchester United in a stadium with a capacity of 80,000.
"Anyway, we had no choice," Thuillot said at the club's headquarters in Camphin-en-Pevele, outside Lille.
Lille, who qualified for the second time by finishing surprise runners-up to Olympique Lyon last season, were drawn with Manchester United, Spain's Villarreal and Portuguese side Benfica in Group D.
The northerners will play their home Champions League games at Stade de France in Paris after being told by UEFA they could not play in their stadium. In the 2001-02 season they played their Champions League home matches in nearby Lens.
Lille's own stadium is undergoing a facelift and they are playing their home Ligue 1 matches in nearby Villeneuve d'Ascq, where they also wanted to hold their Champions League games.
However UEFA said that would not be possible as the stadium, which has an 18,000 capacity, was too small and did not meet safety standards.
Thulliot said he did not know how many fans would turn up at Stade de France but said 7,500 tickets had already been sold for each of Lille's three home games.
EASILY ACCESSIBLE
The Stade de France is only an hour away from Lille by high-speed train and is easily accessible by train or bus.
Lille can rely on around 25,000 fans but do not know how many will go to the Stade de France, although Manchester United will bring a large following and a full house is expected against Benfica because of the many Portuguese living in and around the French capital.
Tickets for all three games are available for 98 euros (US$121.3).
The Stade de France, built for the 1998 World Cup, will host this season's Champions League final, although Lille are very unlikely to go that far.
"Before the draw we had said already that we wanted to finish at least third to continue in the UEFA Cup," said Lille defender Gregory Tafforeau.
"Given the draw, I think third place would be a good result," he added. "We don't know that stadium and it won't be like playing at home but we hope many people will come to support us."
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