Lille:

- LOSC is playing in its first Trophée des Champions. French champion, LOSC has qualified for the UEFA

- Champions League for the fourth time in ten years. In the last 11 seasons, LOSC have finished in the top 5 on seven occasions, winning once (2011).

- In 2010/11, Lille's home ground, the Stadium Lille Métropole, boasted the best attendance-ground capacity ratio in Ligue 1 with an average 91.5% capacity.

- Lille became the first French club to win at the Stadio San Siro when they defeated AC Milan 2-0 in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League. Mathieu Debuchy is the only player still at the squad to have played that day.

- Les Dogues ended last season with the best attack (68 goals scored) and the best home and best away records in Ligue 1.

- Senegal striker Moussa Sow received the Golden Boot as top scorer in Ligue 1 with 25 goals, the highest number in a season since 2004.

- Benoît Pedretti has already won the Trophée des Champions. The midfielder started for Olympique Lyonnais against Auxerre in 2005.

- In his career, Benoît Pedretti has won four of France's five national trophies: Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions.

- Mickaël Landreau has won the Trophée des Champions twice with FC Nantes (1999 and 2001).

- Along with Landreau and Pedretti, Florent Balmont is the third LOSC player to have won the Trophée des Champions (with OL in 2004).

- Lille 'keeper Landreau has 11 international caps for France and will playing a fifth Trophée des Champions with a third club after appearances for FC Nantes and PSG.

- Moussa Sow (Senegal), Aurélien Chedjou (Cameroon), Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria), Pape Souaré (Senegal), Omar Wade (Senegal) and Barel Mouko (Congo) are Africa's representatives in the LOSC squad for the 2011/12.

- In the 2010/11 season, Les Dogues won six of their final seven matches and were undefeated in their last ten games of the season.

- Vahid Halilhodzic, LOSC coach between 1998 and 2002, won the African Champions League with Moroccan outfit Raja Casablanca in 1997 with former Lille player Abdelilah Fahmi. Henryk Kasperczak coached LOSC in the 1992/93 and the Morocco national team in 2000. Jean-Michel Cavalli coached LOSC (1995-97) and later Wydad de Casablanca (2007/08). Former LOSC midfielder Alain Fiard also coached in Morocco with Raja Casablanca in 2004. Lille's first competitive goal in Europe (UCL third preliminary qualifier) was scored by Morocco's Salaheddine Bassir against Parma in a 2-0 away win.

- Moroccans Abdelkrim Krimau (1980/81), Salaheddine Bassir (2001/02), Abdelilah Fahmi (1999-03) and Hicham Aboucherouane (2005/06) all played for LOSC Lille- Métropole.

- In the club's history, LOSC counts 136 international France caps for 24 players. Mathieu Debuchy, Yohan Cabaye and Adil Rami, were Lille players called up to the squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers.

- Abedi Pelé and Jocelyn Angloma (OM, 1993), Eric Abidal (Barcelona, 2009 and 2011) and Patrick Kluivert (Ajax, 1995) are the four former LOSC players to have won the UEFA Champions League.

- In 2008/09, LOSC boasted the league's best assists provider in Michel Bastos, with nine goals laid on for his teammates.

- Mickaël Landreau's 11th and most recent France cap came in November 2007 in the 2-2 friendly draw against... Morocco. Marko Basa played under Lille coach Rudi Garcia at Le Mans FC during the 2007/08 season. The Montenegro defen- der then played at Lokomotiv Moscow alongside former Lille striker Peter Odemwingie.

- LOSC players to have played in the World Cup finals: Nourredine Kourichi (Algeria, 1986), Kader Keita (Côte d'Ivoire, 2006), Sylvain N'Diaye (Senegal, 2002) and Keneth Andersson (Sweden, 1994) all played in a World Cup as a Lille player while Stanislas Karasi (Yugoslavia, 1974) and Erwin Vandenbergh (Belgium, 1986) played for LOSC in the season following the World Cup finals.

Marseille:

- OM won their first Trophée des Champions, in Radès last season, on penalties against PSG.

- Steve Mandanda was named UJSF Man of the Match in the Trophée des Champions 2010.

- This season, OM will play in the UEFA Champions League for the fifth consecutive season; the 13th campaign in the club's his- tory.

- Olympique de Marseille is the only men's French football club to have won the UEFA Champions League, on 26 May 1993, defea- ting AC Milan 1-0 thanks to a headed goal from Basile Boli.

- In the UEFA Champions League group phase last season, OM recorded the biggest ever away win in the competition's history and the biggest victory by a French side when they defeated Zilina 7-0.

- Ghanaians André and Jordan Ayew are sons of Abedi Pelé, three times African Player of the Year (1991, 1992, 1993).

- Marseille's top scorer in Ligue 1 last season, with 16 goals, Loïc Rémy finished the campaign with six goals in the last five matches.

- With five assists in Ligue 1, Benoît Cheyrou ended the 2010/11 campaign as OM's top assists giver. Olympique de Marseille suffered just one defeat in the final 12 matches of the 2010/11 season.

- In defeating Montpellier in the 2011 final, Marseille became the first side to successfully defend their Coupe de la Ligue crown.

- Morgan Amalfitano laid on 13 goal assists last season, playingfor FC Lorient, and finished second in the league.

- The Stade Vélodrome enjoyed the highest average crowds in the 2010/11 Ligue 1 season with an average 51,081 spectators. In 2010/11, OM also boasted the highest away crowds, drawing an average 23,835 spectators on their travels. André Ayew (21yrs), scorer of 11 goals, was one of three nominees for Best Young Player at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

- Olympique de Marseille have finished in the top three of the Ligue 1 championship in each of the last five seasons, winning the league in 2010.

- New Marseille signing Alou Diarra has lost just one of his last eight matches against Lille.

- Internationals Samir Nasri, Cédric Carrasso and André Ayew are all Olympique de Marseille academy graduates.

- Jérémy Morel and Morgan Amalfitano have bad memories of their most recent trip to Lille. With former club FC Lorient, the new OM signings lost 6-3 last December.

- Marseille players Steve Mandanda, Alou Diarra, Mathieu Valbuena, Loïc Rémy and André-Pierre Gignac have all received call ups to Laurent Blanc's France squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers.

- Current Morocco national team coach Eric Gerets coached Marseille between 2007 and 2009, winning the 2009 Ligue 1 Coach of the Year award.

- Souleymane Diawara has won two Trophée des Champions, with Girondins de Bordeaux in 2009 and last year with OM.

- France captain Alou Diarra also has two Trophée des Champions wins with Girondins de Bordeaux in 2008 and 2009.

- Benoît Cheyrou has played in two Trophée des Champions, losing with AJ Auxerre in 2006 and winning last season with OM in Tunisia.

- Stéphane M'Bia (Cameroon), Nicolas Nkoulou (Cameroon), Souleymane Diawara (Senegal), André and Jordan Ayew (Ghana) and Charles Kaboré (Burkina-Faso) are the African players in the current OM squad.

- Moroccan defender Salim Ben Miloud played more than 250 Ligue 1 matches with OM, winning the championship in 1948.

- Morocco international Elamine Erbate, spent six months at Marseille during the 2008/09 season, making four Ligue 1 appea- rances.

- Morocco defender Mehdi Benatia is a product of the OM academy (2002-2006).

- The top scorer in the club's history is the Swedish-born Gunnar Andersson, who became a French citizen in 1954, who scored 192 goals between 1950 and 1958. He leads Jean-Pierre Papin (182 goals).

- Jean-Pierre Papin was crowned European Player of the Year as a Marseille player in 1991.

- Double Ballon d'Or winner (1972 and 1976) and World Champion in 1974, Franz Beckenbauer coached Germany to the 1990 World Cup before taking over OM for the 1990/91 season.

- Argentine playmaker Lucho Gonzalez topped the Ligue 1 assists charts with 11 in the 2009/10 campaign.

- Over the last ten Ligue 1 season, Didier Drogba is OM's top sco- rer in a single season with 19 in the 2003/04 term.

- Alain Giresse, OM player between 1986 and 1988, coached FAR Rabat in Morocco (2001-03). Former Marseille player and coach Henri Stambouli also coached Moroccan outfits RAJA Casablanca (2004/05) and FAR Rabat (2006/07).