Amsterdam (AFP)

The march was too high for Lille: despite a good performance, the Losc could not cope with the superiority of Ajax Amsterdam and was swept (3-0) on Tuesday during the first day of the League of champions.

The semi-finalists of the previous edition displayed their technical qualities to outclass Lillois too clumsy and febrile.

The Dutch, who lead the Group H in front of Valencia, surprise winner Chelsea (1-0), won with goals from Quincy Promes (18th), Edson Alvarez (50th) and Nicolas Tagliafico (62).

Despite the departure of two of his nuggets that had greatly contributed to the superb European course last season, central defender Matthijs de Ligt and midfielder Frenkie de Jong, Ajax showed that he had lost none of his superb summer.

Thus, the players of Erik ten Hag multiplied the actions and technical gestures of high class throughout the game against helpless Lille who have not yet unworthy. But their lack of realism has prevented any possibility of creating surprise.

September 17 will be a day to forget for Losc, who was returning to the group stage of the Champions League after seven years of absence. Indeed, before the match, 303 supporters were arrested by the Amsterdam police "after disturbances of public order in the subway station Strandvliet", near the Johan Cruyff ArenA.

From the beginning of the game, the Losc plays his luck. Thus, Victor Osimhen inherits the ball in the area before being retained by the jersey by Joel Veltman, but the referee and the VAR do not stumble while the penalty seems obvious (2nd).

- The effective Ajax, not Lille -

This wakes up Ajax, who is not long in worrying Mike Maignan: Hakim Ziyech is close to fly on a beautiful outside of the foot that finds the post (14th).

The following attempt is good for the Dutch: on a Tagliafico center, Promes takes the best of Gabriel and catapults the ball into the net (1-0, 18).

The Dogues were however in place until then and were even dangerous, like a center of Osimhen Jonathan Ikoné disastrously cleared by Veltman (17th). But the lack of accuracy in transmissions and technical errors are crippling at this level ...

Ajax monopolize the ball and force Lille to run a lot, but without creating real dangerous situations.

Le Losc misses a huge opportunity to equalize just before the break when Ikoné's strike on a cross from Bamba is postponed by André Onana, before Osimhen's recovery just passes (45 ').

Ajax punished the Dogues after the locker room: alerted by David Neres in the box, Alvarez is faster than Gabriel and found the opposite corner of a good shot (2-0, 50th).

Then on a corner of Zyiech, Tagliafico ahead of Benjamin André and weighed down the score of the head (3-0, 62nd).

Lille, who has never abdicated, still harvest two huge opportunities in the second half by Osimhen of the head (58th) and Zeki Celik (78th), who stumble on an uncrossable Andre Onana. In success, the goalkeeper of Ajax is then saved by his post on a cover of Yusuf Yazici (89th).

The Losc was able to measure the gap that separated the major European teams and will still have much to do in two weeks against Chelsea, his next opponent in the Champions League.

© 2019 AFP