Diligent and courageous, even ten against eleven, Lille left Anfield on Tuesday with their heads held high but with a narrow defeat against the ruthless Liverpool (2-1), already qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League.
The Mastiffs were not intimidated by the superstars in the red jersey, they continued to believe in it after the opponent opened the score, equalized after the expulsion of Aïssa Mandi (59th), but the miracle did not end. is not completely accomplished and their streak of 21 matches without defeat in all competitions has come to an end.
They will now have to tame Feyenoord Rotterdam on January 29 at home, on the final day of the league phase, to hope to re-enter the Top-8 directly qualifying for the eighth. In the meantime, they are already assured of a ticket for the play-offs.
The Reds already have their place well after this seventh success in as many European summits contested. The Premier League leader can now return to his domestic affairs with peace of mind.
Bruno Génésio’s Losc did not reproduce the major performance against Real Madrid (1-0), Atlético (3-1) and Juventus (1-1), earlier in the European campaign.
But the third in Ligue 1 looked his host in the eyes with often impeccable collective discipline, well-executed passing circuits and sometimes ambitious forays.
Defender Gabriel Gudmundsson, responsible for muzzling Mohamed Salah, found himself at the foot of the Kop, the famous Anfield stand, after twenty seconds to try his luck.
But his shot, off target, constituted the one and only real Lille opportunity of the first period, apart from the counter-attack on the left wing of Rémy Cabella, which the English rearguard contained without concern (18th ).
Liverpool had decided to be patient, like a snake waiting for the right opportunity to surprise its prey, and this minimalist plan worked on a fairly innocuous action.
Kostas Tsimikas came to scrape a ball at the feet of striker Jonathan David, too wait-and-see in the opposing half, and Curtis Jones sent Mohamed Salah deep. The Egyptian sprinted and let his vista speak with an admirable brushed shot to get around Lucas Chevalier, who came out to meet him (34th, 1-0).
Flawless Knight
The young French goalkeeper, little used until now, has nothing to reproach himself for and, without him, the bill could have been higher.
He came to block Salah’s shooting angle (44th) before half-time and had a lot more work afterwards: impeccable, he threw himself in front of Darwin Nunez (58th) and put Salah in check again ( 79th) and repelled attempts by Federico Chiesa (82nd, 90th+1).
The situation got really complicated when Aïssa Mandi left her team outnumbered after a second yellow card (59th).
-But Lille showed that they had heart this season, and they equalized almost straight away through Jonathan David (62nd, 1-1). The Canadian definitely likes big matches, he who scored against Real Madrid, Atlético (double) and Juventus.
No one before him had managed to shake the Liverpool net at Anfield this season in the Champions League.
The joy was, however, short-lived for the Génésio team, leading again after a long-range Harvey Elliott shot deflected into his goal by Lille midfielder Ngal’Ayel Mukau (67th, 2-1).
The French continued to push until the final seconds, in vain, but not without panache.
Barça comes back from nowhere
FC Barcelona, trailing 3-1 after half an hour, won 5-4 after a crazy match on the Benfica pitch, obtaining direct qualification for the round of 16.
Barça had a nightmarish start, punished by a spectacular hat-trick from Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis (2nd, 22nd, 30th) then trailed 4-2 after Araujo’s own goal (68th). But he came back thanks to doubles from Lewandowski (13th, 78th) and Raphinha (64th, 90+6) and a goal from Eric Garcia (86th).
Bruges and Juventus, a 0-0 that suits everyone
Club Bruges and Juventus Turin parted back to back (0-0) at the end of a soporific match whose outcome satisfied both teams in Venice of the North.
Fourteenth with 11 points, the Turinese traveled to Belgium with the ambition of securing at least one place in the play-offs, reserved for teams ranked between 9th and 24th place.
“Our goal is to win. We are only thinking about this match and are very focused,” declared coach Thiago Motta, 42, a former player at Barcelona, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain in particular.
The ambition was identical on the Belgian side. A match not necessarily to be won but above all not to be lost. The conclusion was a soporific first period without any shots on target.
And a second part of the match during which both teams thought more about not conceding a goal rather than scoring one.
On the 8th and final day, Bruges will travel to Manchester City on January 29 while the Old Lady will host Benfica at the same time.
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