Champions League: Lille hung by Seville 0-0 but remains in the running for qualification

Europe 1 with AFP 10:56 p.m., October 20, 2021, modified at 11:12 p.m., October 20, 2021

At half mast offensively and battered by Sevilla FC, Lille managed to remain solid to snatch a draw (0-0) which allows them to continue to dream of qualifying, Wednesday during the third day of the Champions League.

Le Losc, which now has two points, takes advantage of the defeat (3-1) of Wolfsburg in Salzburg to seize third place, synonymous with a ticket to the Europa League, thanks to a better goal difference than the Germans, while the Austrians prance at the head of group G with 7 points, far ahead of the Andalusian formation (3).

A slight jump from Lille at the end of the meeting

Halfway through, the Mastiffs are still alive and that's about all we will need to remember from the evening, since the French champions, unrecognizable on Saturday in Clermont (1-0), did not reassure in the game despite a slight jump at the end of the game. Jocelyn Gourvennec's players experienced the worst difficulties endangering Sevilla, the best defense in the Spanish league, and only had one big chance. But the Andalusians also stumbled against the Lille rearguard, hermetic for the third time only in twelve games, L1 and C1 combined.

In a very tight group, the Northerners will have to seek a positive result on the Spanish lawn in two weeks to maintain the hope of reaching the round of 16.

For this duel against the favorite of the group, Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec, who found his attacking duo composed of Burak Yilmaz and Jonathan David, had created the surprise by establishing the young Belgian defensive midfielder Amadou Onana in front of the defense alongside Benjamin André.

The first situation for Losc, author of a good start to the meeting, came quickly with a recovery from Yilmaz not on target (2nd).

The Turk, very restless, set the sights on his second attempt, which however lacked the power to worry the Andalusian goalkeeper (13th).

Grbic not reassuring

Little by little, Sevilla FC took control of operations and prevented the Mastiffs from developing their game. Thus, after a poorly managed free kick, the Spanish club got a huge opportunity: Lille goalkeeper Ivo Grbic has totally missed his recovery and served in the area Rafa Mir, whose curling shot was cleared just in front of his line by Tiago Djalo (20th). Then Suso did not find the frame (24th, 42nd) and Marcos Acuna's free kick was rejected by Onana (26th). The former Marseillais Lucas Ocampos, very leggy, posed a lot of problems for the northerner defense and brought in the Lille goalkeeper, on a wrapped shot deflected for a corner (29th) and a new shot blocked without problem by the Croatian ( 32nd).

The Argentinian especially almost opened the scoring by passing in front of Grbic, again late, to regain a cross with his head, but the ball came to die just next to the left post (40th).

Timid attempts

The Northerners, struggling against the collective Sevillian control, however benefited from a big opportunity: pressed by David, Acuna missed his pass back in the axis and Sanches seized the ball, before shooting on the bust of Yassine Bounou, which blocked the angle (27th).

Back from the locker room, Sevilla continued their sterile domination, even if Ocampos almost stood out with an acrobatic kickback, but he could only touch the ball (48th).

On a counter, the northerner public was inflamed when David resisted an opponent before serving Jonathan Bamba, whose shot was blocked by the former Nantes player Diego Carlos (54th).

Gradually, the Spaniards began to retreat, seeming to be content with the draw while the Losc emboldened, but without really managing to worry the opposing goalkeeper.