Ribery relishing return to Lille for upcoming Champions League clash

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery has expressed his motivation leading into his side’s upcoming Champions League match against Lille, while also reflecting on the 3-1 loss against BATE.

The 29-year-old Roten star has been in excellent form so far this season, playing a big part in helping his club to a record-breaking start of eight consecutive Bundesliga wins.

And the next fixture sees the Bavarian outfit travelling to northern France – near to where Ribery grew up and played youth football during the late 90s.

“I know my family and a lot of friends will be there,” he told reporters at a press conference in Lille ahead of the match.

He then went on to say that the Bavarians could have a difficult task at hand in facing les Dogues, although the 29-year-old winger made reference to the French outfit losing a key player in the summer.

“With the departure of Eden Hazard [to Chelsea], the club has lost its best player of the last few years,” he explained.

“Lille lost their first two matches and they will give everything to beat us in front of their fans, so as to keep their chances of qualifying alive.”

The Frenchman then reflected on Bayern’s loss to the Belarus champions BATE on matchday 2 of Europe’s premier club competition.

“We were surprised to lose to BATE Borisov. Because of that we’ve got a bit of pressure on our shoulders in the Champions League. So we have a clear objective: win the match in France and the return match in Munich. That will put us on the way to qualifying.”

Bayern Munich lock horns with Lille on Tuesday evening at 20.45CET.

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