Three defeats in four matches: the fifth day of the Champions League will have brought the French clubs back to solid ground, it being understood that Paris-SG, beaten again, this time in Munich (0-1), has never taken off since the start of the competition. If Brest's beautiful story has come to a halt, that of Losc de Lille is still running, at the expense, it is true, of an Italian team from Bologna which had not scored a single goal before the visit of the Northerners on Wednesday November 27.
Lille youth march on Europe (12th, 10 points)
Twenty years old, no experience as a playmaker and not the slightest professional goal. In Bologna on Wednesday, Belgian-Congolese midfielder Ngal'ayel Mukau broke all the ceilings, scoring a double and allowing Lille OSC to win (2-1) and occupy a breathtaking view of qualification in the 16th final, “and why not consider even better”, or the direct round of 16, according to team coach Bruno Genesio. Mukau told sleeping stories after the match. How we get out, how we get in. “As soon as I woke up the morning of the match, I felt that something could happen. It's been a dream since I was little to play in this C1. I don't think I'm going to sleep too much [la nuit suivant la rencontre].»
With seven prize points against big European teams (Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Juventus Turin) in their three previous matches, Losc strolled through Bologna. “In the tactical organization, we played quite high, with a vertical game and a lot of races, Genesio added. We would have even deserved to win more comprehensively, with one or two additional goals. It is also the victory of youth with Ayyoub Bouaddi [17 ans, ndlr], Matias Fernandez-Pardo [19 ans], Mukau… I have a larger squad with the return of injuries [jusqu’à treize joueurs à l’infirmerie début novembre]. I am lucky to have quality and efficient players. Experienced players bring tactical stability and youth, freshness, I like this mix and this balance. Of the four French teams involved in the competition, Lille had the most difficult schedule by far, with a trip to Liverpool also scheduled for the restart on January 21. Everything happens as if the victory against Real Madrid (1-0, October 2) had radically transformed the team. They are thrown headlong into a strange adventure.
The Monegasques lose the compass (8th, 10 points)
Tough test for AS Monaco on Wednesday, who had so far taken points against teams at the bottom of the table: Benfica Lisbon actually won (3-2) at the Louis-II stadium after a match furious, who saw the Portuguese score twice in the last ten minutes and the Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic cheerfully carding the Monegasques; five yellows (limiting the commitment of the players who receive it) and one red for defender Wilfried Singo half an hour from the end.
Monaco striker Breel Embolo whispered: “When you play ten against twelve [les onze adversaires plus l’arbitre, faut-il entendre], It’s not easy though.” Two warnings for dispute, including one for captain Denis Zakaria who supposedly has the right to address the referee (even if we do not know in what tone he did so): a lack of control too. “You have to know how to stay calm, communicate well, supported Monegasque coach Adi Hütter after the game. We are guilty of the remarks we make to the referee. For the other boxes, it’s his decision.” Possible that ASM has also paid for its relative inexperience against a club which has competed in the premier competition every year or almost for a quarter of a century. And where the venerable (36 years old) Angel Di María peacefully bided his time, as an outsider to the intense battle between the two teams, before giving two assists at the end of the match. Weighing your commitment, choosing your moment, these are also talents. Arsenal before Christmas, then Aston Villa and Inter Milan: we will have to learn quickly for ASM.
Brest at a turning point (11th, 10 points)
A curious impression left by Stade Brestois 29 in the wake of its lost match (0-3) at Montjuïc against FC Barcelona, the first defeat for Hugo Magnetti and others on the European front this season. The club's environment had made the trip to Catalonia an accomplishment, a sort of end point of Breton's crazy lurch in the Champions League: what could be more prestigious than a match shared with one of the two greats of Spain, golden on slice (Lewandowski, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Jules Koundé…) and five-time European champion? The supporters had a great time, continuously documenting their day until arriving at the stadium, we saw a co-president (Gérard Le Saint) leading the choir in the street and the goalkeeper Marco Bizot, after the match , wore the pinched expression of the culprit: “We perhaps respected them too much.”
Eric Roy, the Brest coach, protected his men: “So much technical mastery in front, connections between the players… We feel that a good half have been playing together for years. Very high level, with or without a ball.” But he still said that he expected something else, the general impression being that the Brestois were starting far enough away against the Catalan armada not to tiptoe into the match. PSV Eindhoven will visit Roudourou Stadium on December 10. The SB29 will then be relaunched, with for the first time a defeat to overcome and a position in the ranking to defend because the Dutch are behind in the ranking and the outcome is getting closer. Which, in the approach to the match and then its content, can change a lot of things.
Paris-SG towards its truth (25th, 4 points)
The Paris-SG matches during this Champions League resemble a nesting doll: they become more stunted as the days go by. And the media slaughter of Luis Enrique, his willingly provocative side, a rhetoric sometimes bordering on pure and simple sales pitch (“My team will be stronger next season,” released in April in front of an audience of already skeptical journalists) are shattered on the reading of the classification of this new formula, evoking more that of the Tour de France than these groups of four teams closed in on themselves and which allowed, for lack of a point of comparison between the different groups, to see what we wanted to see.
The defeat (0-1) in Munich against Bayern, neither more nor less insignificant in content than the inaugural victory against Girona (1-0 on September 18) or the defeat at the Parc against Atlético Madrid (1-2 on November 6), summed up the matter: not only is Paris-SG turning very ordinary, but the players have become accustomed to it. In front of the microphones, Marquinhos and João Neves took note of this, preaching values of solidarity rather than communicating about future progress. Luis Enrique took care of it for them: “Being PSG coach is a great privilege. The demands I place on myself are above external pressure. My goal is to win as many titles as possible this season. In any case, I repeat myself, but all the information that I glean during these matches is very useful to me for the future. For what he will do with it… The weakening of his squad is beyond him, he knows it perfectly and the competition is slowly taking his team towards its truth.
