Preview: Lille vs Real Betis - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Betis will play their first Champions League game in 21 years when they head to France for Tuesday's League Phase clash against Lille.

The hosts are competing in UEFA's elite club competition for the second time in three seasons after making a knockout round appearance in the 2024-25 edition.

Match preview

Lille are competing in the Champions League league phase after Bruno Genesio guided the club to a third-place finish in the 2025-26 Ligue 1 campaign.

Genesio subsequently left for the top job at Marseille, paving the way for Davide Ancelotti to take over the reins for his first head coach role in European football.

Ancelotti has started his tenure with a three-game unbeaten run, beginning with a 2-0 victory over Angers on matchday one of the Ligue 1 season.

Les Dogues then looked to pull off a surprise 2-0 victory over European champions Paris Saint-Germain, only to concede two goals in stoppage time as they were made to settle for a share of the spoils.

Lille quickly put that frustrating result behind them to return to winning ways with a 1-0 victory away to Toulouse, which came courtesy of a 73rd-minute winner from debutant Ayase Ueda.

The French side should fancy their chances of extending their unbeaten start, having lost just one of their nine home games against Spanish teams (W3, D5).

In fact, Ancelotti was in the opposing dugout working as Real Madrid's assistant when Lille beat Los Blancos 1-0 in their most recent home clash against Spanish opposition in the 2024-25 Champions League.

Betis, meanwhile, are looking forward to competing in the Champions League for the first time since suffering a group stage exit in the 2005-06 edition.

A fifth-placed finish in the 2025-26 La Liga campaign proved enough to secure a spot in the league phase, where they will compete in high-profile clashes against Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

Knowing the calibre of some of their future opponents, Betis will surely recognise the importance of maximising their results from their first three league phase games against Lille, Porto and Feyenoord.

They can take confidence from the fact they have lost just two of their last seven matches against French opposition (D3, L2).

Manuel Pellegrini's should also be in a confident mood after claiming a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Real Madrid on Friday, becoming the first team to beat Jose Mourinho's side this season.

Troy Parrott came off the bench to score his first Betis goal before Alvaro Valles saved Kylian Mbappe's stoppage-time penalty, not long after Carlos Espi had an equaliser chalked off for offside.

That result was the perfect response to a surprise 5-2 defeat to Levante and represented their third 1-0 win across their opening four games.

Lille form (all competitions):

Real Betis form (all competitions):

Team News

Hamza Igamane has been left out of Lille's Champions League squad as he continues to work on his rehabilitation from a long-term injury.

Loun Srdanovic, Tanguy Nianzou and Soriba Diaoune are all at risk of missing the European fixture due to injury.

Full-back Romain Perraud could earn a recall after coming on as a half-time substitute in the win over Toulouse.

As for Betis, defender Diego Llorente and attacker Abde Ezzalzouli will not travel to France due to injury and illness respectively.

Diego Conde and Giovani Lo Celso have recovered from their respective injuries and are available for selection for the first time this season.

Former Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos could feature in a matchday squad for the first time since returning to Betis, although he will only be fit enough for a place on the bench due to his lack of match practice.

Lille possible starting lineup:

Ozer; Santos, Ngoy, Alexsandro, Verdonk; Andre, Bentaleb; Mbappe, Haraldsson, Sahraoui; Giroud

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Valles; Bellerin, Bartra, Natan, Garcia; Bernal, Roca; Antony, Isco, Fornals; Parrott

We say: Lille 1-1 Real Betis

Betis have won three of their first four games of the 2026-27 season and will be full of confidence after their win over Real Madrid.

However, they face a tough assignment in France, and we think they will have to be content with a point against a Lille side yet to lose under Ancelotti.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.