Ligue 1: Lille stretches out in the final sprint for the title

Perhaps they will laugh about it in a week, if the adventure turns out to be a champion title.

But for now, the disappointment does not amuse many people in Lille.

Held in check at home (0-0) by Saint-Etienne on Sunday evening, Lille showed signs of tension in the game, seen their lead over PSG go from three points to an uncomfortable unity and were condemned to a final even more stressful in Angers on Sunday.

In Maine-et-Loire, Christophe Galtier's men will have no other option than victory to keep control of their fate, and ensure the coronation in Ligue 1.

In short, to keep it simple and to use the time-honored formula, the Losc has burned a nice joker with this sharing of points against the Greens. "They were tense, and it was seen as soon as they passed through the tunnel leading to the lawn," said the former Losc midfielder and consultant for the L'Equipe channel, Ludovic Obraniak. They were clapping each other's hands a lot, trying to reassure themselves. It makes sense, they measure the importance of the event. "

"The players were undoubtedly taken by the stake", abounded after the meeting the Lille coach Christophe Galtier.

The leaders seemed tense, between a quick warning for the middle metronome Benjamin André and the little spade of captain José Fonte at the microphone of Canal + at the end of the match, annoyed by the performance of the Stéphanois "who did not play like that Before heading north.

And above all, despite some strong offensives in the last moments, Lille played not to lose.

"The configuration against Angers will be more favorable to them"

“Their job is to take four points on these two games, slips Théotim, an 18-year-old Losc supporter who lives in Bousbecque (North). We would have been more serene with a victory against Saint-Etienne, but the main thing was not to lose. "The staff of Lille was also careful not to leave to board," so as not to tip everything and almost lose the title, "says Galtier. "The executives saw that it would be tricky and preferred the option of caution", slips Ludovic Obraniak.

Now remains for Lille not to spoil their final meeting in Angers with, in a - big - corner of the head, the threat embodied by PSG, which will move at the same time to Brest. Stéphane Moulin's men have nothing more to play in the standings, but beat Lille in the first leg and want to make a success of their farewell to their coach on the start, Stéphane Moulin.

"The configuration against Angers will be more favorable to them," said Ludovic Obraniak. There will be no other choice but to go and win against a team that will also surely try to play football. I don't think this team is lacking in character or afraid. She reversed the match in Lyon (

), and was able to win in Paris (1-0). It just stretches a little because the title is there, at your fingertips. "We keep our fate in our hands," continues Théotim. We're going to go get this coronation. And we will have deserved it. "