After the slap received in Paris (4-1) in the league, Lille resumes their European campaign on Tuesday March 4 by facing Dortmund in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Since the start of the season, the Mastiffs have shown a conquering face in C1, with several unexpected victories against the two giants of Madrid, Real (1-0) then Atlético (3-1), confirmed against more modest formations like Bologna (2-1) and Sturm Graz (3-2), before a festival against Feyenoord (6-1) for direct qualification.
Now they are faced with another major challenge: the boiling Westfalenstadion, its 80,000 spectators and its “yellow wall”, a standing stand for the BVB ultras as large (around 25,000 seats) as it is impressive.
“It’s like a fortress, it’s very hard to win here, confirms the German club’s coach Niko Kovac. As an opposing player and coach, I have never won here. I hope this atmosphere will impress Lille. But hey, they have also won in very big stadiums this season.”
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“Play a little more liberated”
Before this poster against one of the most famous clubs in Europe, the Northerners poorly prepared for their round of 16 with a non-match in Paris on Saturday, perhaps already focused on their continental meeting, but they “tried to digest as best as possible, because in any case, what is done is done”, underlined defender Bafodé Diakité.
The latter believes that it will be necessary to “play a little more liberated”. “If I base myself on the first period that we played in Paris, we were not as usual, we felt pressure when we had the ball,” he reported at a press conference. “We must avoid doing that despite a stadium that will be full, and playing our football is what has been our strength until now.”
International goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, for his part, displays his optimism. “I am convinced that in Dortmund, it will be a completely different match, he predicted after the slap inflicted by PSG. Dortmund is a great team but they do not have the level of Paris, each match is not the same. I do not feel we are weakened.”
Losc can build on an excellent run in the Champions League so far, punctuated by resounding successes against Real Madrid and Atlético. In the league phase, which they finished in seventh place, avoiding the play-off test unlike Dortmund, the Northerners demonstrated unfailing group spirit in the face of adversity.
“It’s true that in the twelve matches we played (the four in the preliminary rounds then the eight in the league phase, editor’s note), we feel this desire to refuse defeat, and I think that this is what has been our strength since the start of this competition,” confirmed the coach, Bruno Genesio. “You also need other qualities: technical, tactical, and athletic.”
But relying solely on this first part of the competition would be a trap, according to the 58-year-old Lyonnais, for whom the knockout phase, with its double confrontations, is a completely different matter. “Now, we also have to forget a little bit what we did because what is important in football is what happens,” he stressed. “It’s up to us to be ready, to play hard, and above all not to do what we did in Paris, that is to say not play in the end.”
Be wary of Serhou Guirassy
To make Dortmund falter, they will first have to monitor Guinean international Serhou Guirassy, top scorer in this Champions League campaign with ten goals scored, to which must be added fourteen in the German championship. The native of Arles will undoubtedly want to shine against his former club (2015-2016), where he did not impose himself, before shining.
Collectively, the players from the Ruhr also have additional motivation: they only have the European scene to shine. Dropped in the league because of a disappointing run, which cost previous coach Nuri Sahin his job, they are 26 points behind Bayern Munich, at the top of the Bundesliga.
With AFP
