The evening was particularly difficult for LOSC, defeated on the Arsenal pitch (0-3) this Tuesday in the Champions League. Faced with intractable Gunners, the Mastiffs sorely lacked offensive weight. After the match, Olivier Giroud easily admitted the superiority of the London team, reigning English champions and finalists in the Champions League.
“Could Lille have done better? I don’t know. We fought well, the coach told us he was proud of us. The thing is that we would have liked to be more dangerous offensively, to bring out the block a little more, and to put them in difficulty in their last meters, he confided to the microphone of Canal+. But when you spend so much energy… We wanted to be compact, not to leave any space between the lines. Maybe we were a little too low. It was encouraging in the first half, then they spent the second and we lacked energy. There is still a level gap. »
Beyond the collective disillusionment on the accounting level, this European meeting allowed the former Montpellier to set a new record. By entering the game in place of Ayase Ueda to play the last twelve minutes of the game, Olivier Giroud officially became the very first French player in history to play a match in a European competition having reached the age of 40. An XXL performance which crowns an immense career, even though the main person concerned recently admitted that he was very probably playing the very last season of his professional career.
A heart-warming ovation
If the final score left a taste of unfinished business, the evening still ended on a magnificent note of emotion for the 2018 world champion. In addition to his longevity record, he was entitled to a superb ovation from an entire stadium.
“The fans were great tonight. Those from Lille, who sang my famous song. Those of Arsenal too, of course. I took the time to take a little tour of the stadium, it was great. It was a great feeling, with special emotions, he explained. I spent five and a half years here (2012-2018), they have not forgotten me. That’s what’s beautiful about the English. I would have preferred that we managed something this evening, but I’m happy with this reunion with my old club. »
