Beaten by Paris just before the international break and weakened by absences, Lille must find the rhythm in Saint-Étienne on Friday (8:45 p.m.) to open the fourth day of Ligue 1, before its first trip in the Champions League.
Sixth in the championship (six points), LOSC has started its season well, also qualifying for the most prestigious and lucrative European competition between clubs. The complete opposite of Saint-Étienne, promoted whose points and goals scored counter is still stuck at zero, and which therefore occupies the last place in Ligue 1.
But the Lille infirmary is filling up week by week, and things have not improved during the international break: in addition to Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Bentaleb, still absent since his heart attack in June, and Ismaily, in rehabilitation following his meniscus operation, midfielders Ethan Mbappé, Ngal’ayel Mukau and especially Hakon Haraldsson are also injured.
Mbappé is expected to return soon, Mukau will be sidelined for at least six weeks and Haraldsson two to three months. The Icelander’s absence is particularly unfortunate given his good start to the season.
THE “headwinds” that Bruno Genesio mentioned are now blowing as hard as a hurricane. “Having injuries is the lot of all clubs that play a lot, with the hellish schedule imposed by international bodies, I don’t think it’s going to stop, on the contrary, notes the coach. Either we feel sorry for ourselves, or we tell ourselves that it’s a way of showing that we are capable of overcoming all that, which is what we managed to do during the month of August.”
The return of André Gomes will do LOSC good
Laurent Sanson / Panoramic
To compensate for the shortcomings in the Lille midfield, the northern club has recruited André Gomes for two seasons, returning after his successful loan during the 2022-2023 season. “After the very good season he had with us, we would have liked him to stay with us but it was not possible, Everton (to which the Portuguese belonged, Editor’s note) made demands that we could not meet”even specifies the club president Olivier Létang.
Can the elegant 31-year-old midfielder, without a club since July, play straight away? “I missed the preseason but I kept myself fit during the offseason, he assures. The question arises at the level of intensity and volume of play.”
The former Benfica, Valencia and Barcelona player in any case strengthens the key playing sector of Bruno Genesio’s 3-4-3. But he will not be able to play in the first phase of the Champions League, having arrived too late, and will therefore not tread the pitch at the José-Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday against Sporting Club Portugal in Lille’s first match in the Champions League, in Lisbon.
He could, however, play his first minutes in Saint-Étienne, where the Dogues are looking to win again after two consecutive defeats, in Prague against Slavia (2-1), without consequences, then at home against PSG (3-1).
“If we think that it will be easy, with the return of their supporters (after a match played partially behind closed doors, Editor’s note), we are heading for a big disappointment, warns Bruno Genesio. We must be ready very quickly to play a cup match away from home.”
The former coach of Olympique Lyonnais, ASSE’s hated rival, will probably receive a hostile reception against the Greens, who finally want to get their season off to a catastrophic start – defeats in Monaco (1-0), against Le Havre (2-0), and in Brest (4-0).
