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Champions League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
Hello world! Tonight we witness history being made. Lille have played 71 games in the Champions League and Arsenal 241, but this is the first time they have played each other. OK, it’s not the kind of history we’re likely to be telling our grandchildren about many years hence, but history it remains.
This meeting is particularly fortunate for Olivier Giroud – he called it “a blessing” when he spoke to the media yesterday – who returns to his former club for the first time since he left to join Chelsea in 2020, after six years, 180 games and 73 goals, having turned 40 a fortnight ago. “I had to leave in order to play at the 2018 World Cup,” he said yesterday. “I was really sad when I left the club but I had to make that choice, and it was one of the toughest ones in my career, but it was important and necessary for the rest of my career.” It also seems quite fortunate for Arsenal – Lille may be second in Ligue 1 with a record uncannily similar to Arsenal’s in the Premier League (same number games, same goal difference, Arsenal have one more win and one draw fewer) but they have lost 10 of their last 12 games against English teams, and all of their last seven in the Champions League.
