frustrated but proud, Genesio still aims for direct qualification in the Top 8

Bruno Genesio, coach of Lille, said he was both frustrated and proud of his team after the defeat at Liverpool (2-1) on Tuesday, which still leaves him with regrets in the offensive animation. He is still aiming for direct qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Lille's crazy streak of 21 consecutive games without defeat ended on Tuesday at Liverpool (2-1), unbeatable ogre of the Champions League (7 victories in as many matches). And this setback leaves a little bitter taste for Bruno Genesio who believes that his players had the opportunity to do better even if he shows great pride in having made the Reds doubt.

“There were better things to do”

“When you lose, there is always frustration, disappointment,” he said after the match. “It's a feeling shared with also pride because the face my team showed in the second half, especially at 10 against 11, I really liked. It makes me think that if we keep this state of spirit, we are capable of doing great things, including in this competition. The result is frustrating, especially the way we conceded the second goal.

The technician is upset by another point, the timidity of his players to project themselves forward. “We were very tactically disciplined defensively, we hampered this team a lot, but we were timid in our offensive play,” he noted. “There were better things to do in the use of the ball. We sometimes did not play fast enough forward to make shifts. In the second half, we saw a more ambitious game which gave us allowed us to come back to the score. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed on the second goal. Afterwards, we had one or two more situations, we could have returned to 2-2 By playing more like we did in. second period, there was a way to do better. match which should make us grow and make us aware of what we can do.”

Currently 11th, Losc can still aim for direct qualification for the round of 16 by finishing in the Top 8. Bruno Genesio wants to believe it before the last match against Feyenoord, next Wednesday (9 p.m.). “We have the possibility of qualifying directly by beating Feyenoord. It can be decided by goal average. We will have to put in the same ingredients that we put in the second half. We will be at home.”