After a divine October, Lille wants to stay on cloud nine at the start of November against Lyon, this Friday (9:00 p.m.) at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, four days before hosting Juventus in the Champions League.
In its history, Losc has undoubtedly not experienced a more beautiful month than that of October 2024. It began with a resounding success at home against Real Madrid (1-0), continued it against in Toulouse (2-1), then by going to get a point in Monaco (0-0), before bringing down Atlético (3-1), another great of Spain, in Madrid, and concluding by snatching a victory in Lens (2-0) in the derby against its hated rival.
Here is the northern club off to a good start in the Champions League with six points in three matches, and 17 in Ligue 1, which places it in fourth place tied with Marseille, which precedes it on goal difference.
“Obviously, it’s rewarding,” admits coach Bruno Genesio. We are proud of these performances but we question ourselves, the staff, the players and myself, to avoid falling into monotony and letting ourselves go.
This requirement should allow the Mastiffs to run at the same frantic pace in November, where they will still have to alternate between the championship and the European scene.
The northern club begins this new chapter of its season against the Lyonnais (7th, 14 pts), who remain with two disappointing results (defeat in the Europa League against Besiktas and 2-2 draw against Auxerre).
David and Goliath
For this meeting at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the Northerners will still count on their striker Jonathan David, who has been stacking goals since the start of the season – eleven in all competitions including the qualifying phase for the C1.
The 24-year-old Canadian has been at the heart of Lille's recent exploits, scoring against Real, against Atlético twice and in Lens, establishing himself as the leader of the pack.
In his wake, the entire Lille group seems to have reached a milestone mentally. Too often unable to resist the pressure of big posters last season, especially far from Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Lille succeeded in its trip of three matches in nine days by being both solid and opportunistic when necessary.
The sign of a mature workforce? “We have a group that is mentally strong, in the ability that the players have to transcend themselves, to be united, to show self-sacrifice in the weak moments of a match,” rejoices Bruno Genesio. For example, the Toulouse match, which was three days after the one against Real, we were in great difficulty in the first half (led 1-0 at half-time, Editor's note), we felt that it was difficult, and we was able to reverse the trend.”
However, in mental preparation, “nothing has changed”explains the 58-year-old coach. “I have insisted on this a lot since the start of the season,” he notes. Winning against difficulty also brings a lot of confidence. We were able to reverse the trend after this match in Saint-Étienne (1-0 defeat, Editor's note) with a match against Strasbourg (2-2 at the Stade de la Meinau, Editor's note) where we were also in difficulty. We were able to come back to the score at the end of the match and take a point which, at the time, was not satisfactory but which was certainly the starting point of something. The start of a memorable series that the people of Lille do not want to see end.
