The black series never ends. Beaten Wednesday in Salzburg (2-1), Losc recorded a ninth game in a row without a win in the Champions League. A sad series started nine years ago and which continues to extend over several editions. This time, Losc will be able to consider themselves aggrieved by their defeat in Austria. Because it was two penalties that precipitated the defeat of Gourvennec’s men at the Red Bull Arena.
On the first whistled in the 35th minute, though Adeyemi was hit in the box by Botman, he involuntarily jostled Gudmunsson before coming up against the Lille defender. The penalty could have been refused but after long minutes of consulting the VAR, the referee finally awarded it to the Austrians.
Too much technical waste
The second penalty, whistled in the 53rd minute, was less debated but remains severe anyway. On a free kick at the entrance to the surface, Yilmaz, positioned in the Lille wall, deflected the ball with an arm a bit too high. Cruel for a Lille weighed down by a double from Adeyemi. “There were some weird things going on in this game. I found many decisions very astonishing, ”lamented Jocelyn Gourvennec, Losc coach.
But penalties or not, Lille showed too much technical waste to hope to bring back a point from Austria. Despite the reduction of the gap of Yilmaz (63rd), Losc did not succeed in really shaking Salzburg at the end of the match. “We lost too many balls. The facts of the game were not in our favor, but we did not have enough opportunities, ”admitted Benjamin André, the Lille midfielder, at the microphone of Canal +.
Everything is still playable
With a point in two games, Losc are last in their Champions League group G. Fortunately, the draw between Wolfsburg and Sevilla (1-1) in the other match allows Lille to be only one point away from second place. But it will be necessary to raise the level of several notches from October 20 at home against Sevilla to avoid a new disillusion in the Champions League. There is work.