A week after eliminating José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe (2-1, 1-1) in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, Losc got off to a perfect start in their double confrontation against Slavia Prague in the play-offs. Bruno Genesio’s players, largely superior on the pitch at the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, won 2-0 on Tuesday evening, a week before the return leg in the Czech capital (Wednesday next week).
The Dogues were unable to find the opening in the first half despite numerous opportunities. But the talent of Lille’s best players made the difference. Jonathan David, on a pass from Hakon Haraldsson, opened the scoring at the start of the second half (52nd). The Canadian star says he is ready to stay in the event of qualifying for the Champions League, even if he only has one year left on his contract… A quarter of an hour later, it was Edon Zhegrova who, with a solo move, made the break (77th).
Losc, finally?
The Northerners then managed to keep their goal clean, the few chances of Slavia not having made Lucas Chevalier tremble. Enough to approach the second meeting in the best conditions and validate a participation for the new “championship phase” of the LDC (with the three French qualifiers via Ligue 1, PSG, Monaco and Brest).
No French club has managed to qualify for the Champions League via the preliminary rounds since AS Monaco in 2016 (with a certain Kylian Mbappé, aged 17). Since then, Monaco has been eliminated twice, Nice once and OM were eliminated in the third qualifying round last year by Panathinaikos.
