Overview
Celta Vigo is experiencing an extremely impressive start to 2026. The Galician team has won all 3 recent La Liga rounds against Valencia, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano. They have scored 11 goals and conceded only once, thereby igniting hopes of competing for a European cup spot next season.
Last weekend, Los Celestes continued to maintain high form with a 3-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano at home at Balaidos, in a context where the opponent was only playing with 10 men. This result helped Celta extend their unbeaten streak in La Liga to 6 consecutive matches (5 wins, 1 draw).
After that sublimation period, coach Claudio Giraldez's team has risen to seventh place in the rankings, equal to Real Betis in sixth place and only 2 points behind Espanyol - the fifth-placed team.
In contrast to stable form in the domestic arena, Celta Vigo's Europa League campaign lacks consistency. After six group stage matches, the Spanish representative won 3 and lost 3 matches, currently ranked 19th in the 36-team standings, equal in points and only ranked one place above Lille.
Celta is currently 4 points behind the top 8 teams as there are only two matches left in the group stage. The opportunity to win a direct ticket to the round of 16 is not high, but their real goal is still to maintain their position in the top 24 to enter the knockout play-offs.
However, if they cannot get a positive result against Lille in this match, Giraldez's team is completely at risk of being knocked out of the safe group. Especially when they still have to play away at Red Star Belgrade's stadium in the final round.
Notably, this is only the second time Celta Vigo has appeared in the Europa League, after their impressive debut in the 2016-2017 season - where they went deep to the semi-finals. Historically, Celta has only faced Ligue representatives 1 year and won once, which was the 2-1 victory over Nice at home in October last year.
In stark contrast to the excitement of Celta Vigo, Lille is sinking into a series of gloomy days. The northern French team has lost all 3 of their first matches in 2026, including a 1-2 defeat to Lyon in the 32nd round of the French National Cup and 2 consecutive defeats in Ligue 1 against Rennes and Paris Saint-Germain.
The heavy 0-3 defeat to PSG marks the first time Lille has lost 4 consecutive matches in all competitions since September 2024. As a result, Les Dogues have fallen out of the top three of Ligue 1, falling to fifth place - exactly the ranking they finished last season in.
Declining form puts coach Bruno Genesio's team under great pressure when entering the key stage of the Europa League. In the European arena, Lille is currently experiencing a streak of 3 defeats in the last 4 matches in the group stage, including a minimal 0-1 defeat at Young Boys Stadium. This series of poor results forces the Ligue 1 representative to win points against Celta Vigo if they do not want to put themselves in danger.
Last season, Lille participated in the Champions League round of 16 and advanced to the Conference League quarter-finals 2023-2024. However, another defeat in the Europa League will put them at risk of not being able to pass the group stage this season, and at the same time set a sad milestone when they lost for the first time 3 consecutive away matches in the European second division arena.
In head-to-head history, Lille has faced Spanish teams 17 times, winning 5, drawing 6 and losing 6. Notably, they have won 3 consecutive La Liga representatives since 2021, respectively against Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The match between Celta Vigo and Lille takes place at 3:00 AM on January 23 (Vietnam time).
