Lille defender and Premier League veteran Jose Fonte has already warned the reigning French champions of Romelu Lukaku's quality ahead of first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie against Chelsea.
Lukaku, 28, has come in for a lot of criticism in recent times despite playing a crucial role in winning Roman Abramovich his first FIFA Club World Cup title with his goals in the semi-final and final against Al Hilal and Palmeiras respectively.
However, that promising up turn in form hasn't yet transferred to the Premier League with the tight 1-0 Crystal Palace win seeing the £97.5million man touching the ball a mere seven times over the 90 minutes, including one from kick-off in the first half.
In spite of this damning stat, manager Thomas Tuchel has urged his own fanbase not to joke about this at such a critical time for the club where more silverware is up for grabs.
"Ha, what can I do? I don't know. Well, now we have to deal with it, the data is out there and speaks a certain language," Tuchel explained in his pre-match press conference on Monday.
"He was not involved in our game, it's sometimes like this with strikers. If they struggle a bit with self-confidence, if they struggle a little bit to find the space and to get involved against a defensive side, it can be like this.
"It's of course not what we want and not what Romelu wants, but it's also not the time to laugh about him, make jokes about him. He's in the spotlight of course, and we will protect him."
Could the Champions League be the perfect opportunity for Lukaku to hit back at his doubters?
Lille will certainly provide the perfect opportunity for that with the reigning Ligue 1 Champions struggling in the top flight after a blistering 2020/21 saw Christophe Galtier's side at the time beating Mauricio Pochettino's Paris Saint-Germain outfit to claim their first domestic tile in 10 years.
However, their Champions League form tells a different story with the French outfit claiming top spot in a difficult group that consisted of Sevilla and RB Salzburg.
No wonder both Tuchel and Edouard Mendy were not prepared to underestimate the magnitude of task facing the reigning European champions.
If Lille are to come out on top over the two legs, a key battle that could decide the outcome of the tie consists of how former Premier League regular Fonte fares up against Lukaku.
Can the ex-Saints and West Ham central defender repeat what Joachim Andersen did at the weekend, or will the all time Belgian top scorer rediscover his mojo?
The 38-year-old defender already knows the exact threat Chelsea's No.9 will pose to the Lille rear-guard, who will likely have to withstand waves of sustained pressure under the lights of Stamford Bridge if they are to stand a chance of causing an upset.
When debating in the past how Jose Mourinho would deal between selecting either Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Lukaku when he was at Man United, Lille's current No.6 listed the qualities the now Chelsea striker has in his locker to compete against any world-class competition.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live via the Daily Express back in 2017: "Strong, powerful. Lukaku is very quick, as well. Good finishers."
Fonte in this interview also went on to claim that the man in question could easily play in a forward two, therefore hinting at a possible Kai Havertz-Lukaku or Timo Werner-Lukaku axis for this game as the best way to unlock the Serie A MVP winner of last season.
Further down the line, Tuchel could take Fonte's words on board come the summer when someone like Jonathan David or Hugo Ekitike could be signed from Ligue 1 to help release the full Lukaku.
But for now, Fonte's admission could help the German manager when it comes to who could pair/play alongside the club record signing for the Round of 16 clash on Tuesday night in SW6.
