Tactical Analysis: Paulo Fonseca's Lille

It has been three years since Lille edged Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title on the final day of the season, claiming their first championship in a decade under Christophe Galtier. They did so on the basis of a French-Portuguese connection, with sporting director Luis Campos crafting a young squad featuring Portuguese players like Renato Sanches, Tiago Djalo, Jose Fonte and Xeka as well as French players like Boubakary Soumare, Benjamin Andre, Mike Maignan, Jonathan Bamba and Jonathan Ikone.

Campos would depart the club midway through the season, whilst Galtier would soon follow, riding off into the sunset and taking charge of Nice. Lille suffered a disappointing 10th-place finish under Jocelyn Gourvennec, with Paulo Fonseca taking charge and becoming the first Portuguese manager in the club's history. Despite losing key players like Amadou Onana, Sven Botman and Sanches, Les Dogues were able to quickly rebound under Fonseca, finishing fifth in Ligue 1 thanks to a 24-goal haul from Canadian striker Jonathan David.

They are on pace to surpass last season's finish, with the club currently sitting fourth in the table, one point above Nice and two above Lens, as well as one point behind Monaco and five behind Brest. Whilst they were eliminated by Lyon in the Coupe de France Round of 16, they have taken a huge step towards reaching the UEFA Europa Conference League quarterfinals after thrashing Sturm Graz 3-0 in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie.

Today, we're breaking down the reasons behind Fonseca's success at Lille, the tactical set-up and the individual profiles needed to make it all click, and whether or not they can sustain their progress at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. We start with Lille’s in-possession setup. First of all, Lille line up in a 4-2-3-1 on paper and have not showed much in terms of deviation from their normal XI.