In silence, LOSC moves forward and hopes that its success will cause a stir.
The Lille club had nothing of a competitor to Paris Saint-Germain for the title of champion of France this season.
No more than a second OM and galvanized by the Champions League, or a private OL of the European Cup and able to focus its energy on Ligue 1. It is however Lille which sits at the top of the ranking after 26 days.
Lille, which came out of its group in the Europa League, where OGC Nice failed miserably, like Marseille and Rennes in the Champions League, on another scale.
For that, it took creativity and stability.
A word that was almost reduced to ashes at the start of winter.
"Lille is really a machine in the dry cleaners"
Olivier Dall'Oglio, Stade Brestois coach
It was a small earthquake that hit the North in mid-December: LOSC owner Gérard Lopez could not pay off the debt and was forced to sell the club.
Olivier Létang was named new president, and the shadow of uncertainty hung over every element of the Mastiffs.
"I will comply with the decisions", declared Christophe Galtier on the potential consequences linked to the transfer window. Finally, nothing has changed or almost.
Rumors of the departure of Galtier, courted by OM, have died down.
And the Lille coach was able to go to the end of his work, started in December 2017 after the confusing parenthesis Marcelo Bielsa.
Galtier has multiplied the sleight of hand: the rebirth of Renato Sanches at the start of the season, the emergence of Jonathan Ikoné, the confirmation of Jonathan Bamba or the explosion of Yusuf Yazici.
"
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With a hat-trick in the first European match of the Lille season, Yazici hit hard at Slavia Prague (1-4).
Then he put it back at ... AC Milan, then unstoppable in Italy (0-3).
A sacred message sent by the LOSC, well oiled collectively and whose long-term work has paid off.
“Lille is really a machine in the pressing,” applauded Olivier Dall'Oglio after a point of draw obtained by his players from Stade Brestois on February 14 at the Pierre Mauroy stadium (0-0).
This pressing, rented in France, fell on a bone last Thursday.
Ajax Amsterdam dazzled France in its class, with a difficult victory (1-2) but oh so logical among Lille who "managed to recover the ball" but "returned it immediately", regretted Christophe Galtier.
“I found my team a bit taken by the issue,” he added.
I still can't explain it.
I found players below their technical level, in the spaces we should have used. "
Ajax, the first of the last major meetings
This round of 16 first leg illustrates the limit of LOSC in all areas of the game, but also in its overall resources.
Galtier doesn't have many tricks left in his bag.
His goalkeeper Mike Maignan has long kept the Mastiffs alive against Ajax.
Elected player of the month for December in Ligue 1, Yazici accuses the blow, like Renato Sanches.
Out of breath, Lille?
The Lorientais do not share this idea after the correction inflicted on the Moustoir on Sunday (1-4).
“The Ajax match touched the players and they responded very favorably, congratulated Galtier.
I liked what I saw on Saturday in training, and tonight (Sunday).
A team that is not vengeful, but that wants to maintain its momentum. ”
7 - Lille have won their last 7 trips in Ligue 1, the best series in their history in the elite.
Only 2 teams have had a longer series in the same year since the creation of the French championship: Marseille in 2008/09 (8) and Paris in 2016/17 (8).
Trip.
pic.twitter.com/7A1fqT9zUs
- OptaJean (@OptaJean) February 21, 2021
It did not take more to offer a glimmer of hope before a trip to Amsterdam this Thursday (18:55).
Lille is a team that has learned to travel.
In the history of the French championship, only OM (2008-09) and PSG (2016-17) have won 8 straight away matches.
The Mastiffs are on a 7-game winning streak far from their bases.
A series which, if it is prolonged, would probably mean a title with AS Monaco (March 14) and PSG (April 4) which will follow.
Meetings far from the thoughts of the indispensable Benjamin André, suspended in the first leg against Ajax.
“It will take a whole different way than what was shown last Thursday, where we played with the handbrake, underlined the midfielder.
We did not bet enough on our strengths, aggressiveness or speed, our ability to project forward. ”
Going forward, LOSC is doing just that this season.
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