Genoa aim to bounce back

Posted Thursday, October 22, 2009 by PA

Genoa will look to put their Serie A woes behind them and concentrate on getting their Europa League campaign back on track with a win at Lille on Thursday.

The Italians go into the encounter on the back of a humiliating 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Inter Milan in their last Serie A match.

"We are psyched up," said Genoa midfielder Giandomenico Mesto. "After such a defeat against Inter I think it is normal.

"To play immediately is the best thing. We know that we have a very hard game at Lille but we are going there to claim all three points."

Gian Piero Gasperini's team, sixth in Serie A, will not be inspired by the fact Thursday's opponents have scored an impressive six goals in the first two Group B games.

"We have studied Lille in recent days," said Mesto. "We know they have very fast strikers, we respect them but we are not frightened of them.

"We know that often the results of a team in the domestic league are not mirrored when playing in Europe."

Genoa will be without midfielder Houssine Kharja, who will undergo surgery on his knee tomorrow.

One positive for the coach and travelling fans is the return of Mesto from suspension and defender Domenico Criscito from injury.

Lille go into Thursday's match on the back of a 0-0 draw with Rennes which left them 15th in Ligue 1 and extended their unbeaten run to seven matches, including their Europa League draw against Valencia and 5-1 triumph at Slavia Prague.

Lille currently lead the group, level on four points with Valencia and one clear of Genoa.

"Our success so far in the Europa League is doing a world of good to the team," said Lille striker Pierre-Alain Frau. "We hope we can continue on this path."

Lille coach Rudi Garcia will be without Mathieu Debuchy and Tulio De Melo, who are both struggling with knocks.