They waited nine years to win a Champions League match again, then strung together three wins. For the first time since 2006-2007, and only the second time in the history of the club, Lille qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League thanks to their success in Wolfsburg (3-1), Wednesday 8 December. His group was certainly affordable, but still gave him a hard time.
The European course of LOSC had started badly, with only two points taken in the three matches of the first leg. From the outset, against Wolfsburg, at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, the Mastiffs had conceded a draw, 0-0, after a very largely dominated match and in numerical superiority for 30 minutes. The Lille had not converted any of their 17 shots (against two for the Germans). None, except a goal from Jonathan David, finally refused, the referee believing that the ball had gone out of bounds on the action, without any image to show it formally.
During their second meeting, in Salzburg, the Lille had, this time, inclined, in a balanced match (2-1), conceding two goals from the penalty spot of the young Karim Adeyemi, nugget of the Austrian club. And to close these first three games, LOSC was held in check by Sevilla, at home (0-0), a record of only one goal scored in the first leg.
However, the Mastiffs have never been out of the race for qualification, thanks to many draws between their opponents. So as the dream was always within reach, the Northerners clung to it. They created the feat by going to win in Seville (1-2) while the Spaniards were undefeated at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium since the start of the season.
“With two points in three games, we were always positioned and I think the trigger is in Sevilla. It’s very hard to win there, but if we do, we are able to go to the end. We then responded against Salzburg and Wolfsburg “, Jocelyn Gourvennec analysis. During the return phase, the Mastiffs mainly regained their offensive efficiency, with three goals in particular for Jonathan David. “We were not very far from tipping the first three games, and we managed to do so in the return phase”, explains Benjamin André. The boss of the Lille environment had also stayed the course in the middle of a storm, coming out of the bitter defeat suffered in Salzburg. “We have to do better, for sure … but we will qualify”, had then ensured the n ° 21 Lille. A prediction then deemed very optimistic.
But the LOSC has re-mobilized. As claimed then by José Fonte, their captain, the Northerners were more solid defensively, with three out of six games without conceding a goal, against only one in Ligue 1 after 17 days. A defensive solidity hailed by Jonathan David after the success on German soil, who sees it as the primary explanation for this turnaround.
1 – Lille finished in 1st place in their Champions League group for the 1st time in their history in 7 participations. At last. #WOBLOSC pic.twitter.com/AbKcOhD19r
– OptaJean (@OptaJean) December 8, 2021
Thanks to these last three successes, the Mastiffs have gradually climbed the classification of Group G, to finally finish first, a first in the history of the club, in seven participations.