Lille beat Real Madrid 1-0 on Tuesday in the second round of the Champions League, on a night in which the king of Europe was unrecognizable, with Endrick inconsequential as a starter and Kylian Mbappe who replaced him but could not change the outcome of the match.
Glory to Lille, who won with a penalty goal from Jonathan David (45+3), a reward for their brave match, led by Ayyoub Bouaddi who celebrated his 17th birthday by beating the European champions.
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The plague of midfield injuries meant that Bruno Genesio handed over the starting role to the youth team. A winning bet for the French coach, who has another European victory to keep, after beating Manchester City (2-1) when he was in charge of Lyon (2-1 in 2018).
Endrick, inconsequential
With his impressive collection of cards, the European champions had reserved Mbappe, Luka Modric – who played almost 90 minutes against Atletico at 39 years old – and Rodrygo from the start.
Ancelotti innovated with a 4-4-2 formation, with Jude Bellingham on the left and the Brazilian duo of Vinicius and Endrick up front.
The second was playing his first match as a starter for Real Madrid. He played for almost an hour and left a flash, the start from three-quarters of the field in which he did not cross enough in front of goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier (19).
Before being substituted by Mbappe, the 18-year-old striker showed his other side, a fiery tackle that cost him a yellow card (46).
With Thibaut Courtois injured, Andriy Lunin, one of the heroes of last season’s Champions League, especially in the quarter-finals, when he saved two penalties in the decisive shoot-out against Manchester City, returned to goal.
The famous European anthem gave him wings, with a double miracle in the 25th minute, saving two shots from David from practically the goal line, the second with a prodigious swipe as he fell.
He was powerless to stop the Canadian striker from taking a penalty, which was awarded for a handball by Eduardo Camavinga during a free kick. The referee blew the whistle after being notified by the VAR and having reviewed the action on his monitor.
Until then, the Madrid side had patiently endured Lille’s attractive football, guided by an elegant Bouaddi in the build-up, without complexes or rushing as if he were still playing among the youth teams, and the veteran Remy Cabella in the attacking midfield at a Pierre Mauroy stadium that experienced its big night.
The ‘Dogues’ did not lower their intensity in the second half and Edon Zhegrova came close to making it 2-0 with a great shot from the left (54). Then Ancelotti resorted to heavy artillery.
However, with Modric and Mbappe, who were booed in their first match with Real Madrid in France, little changed for the white giants until the final push came.
Then Chevalier appeared, saving a double shot from Bellingham (85), a header from Antonio Rudiger (86), and another from Arda Guler (90). These were the best chances in the unrecognizable match of the white giant.
Andry Lunin says Real Madrid lacked aggression
Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin admitted that “there was a lack of aggression, creativity and a bit more fighting” in the first half of a Champions League match against Lille in which the Spanish team lost 1-0.
“It’s difficult to analyze right after, but we lacked some aggression, creativity, fighting a bit more… In the second half, we had more desire, but in the first half we were worse. We always want to win. We know what colors we defend. But it’s okay. We have to keep working and prepare for the next match to continue in our style,” he said on Movistar + after the match.
