Rock bottom in their Champions League group, lacking in team spirit, down and indeed out, LOSC Lille were given one of the cruelest lessons in football against Bayern Munich.
After years and years of poor showings in the Champions League and in the Europa League, French football is set to be punished in the UEFA index. From next season onwards, the team that finishes third in Ligue 1 will have to play an extra preliminary round to qualify for the Champions League.
This will be a new hurdle in the path of all French teams that aspire to see their stadiums play the tunes of the competition. After Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais, it was hoped that Lille and Montpellier would set the trend of French teams giving European giants a tough time in the knockouts.
Instead, the two aforementioned sides hardly provided any resistance to their respective opponents. Lille for instance, were devoured like dead meat by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Onus was on Rudi Garcia’s side to give a good account of themselves against the Bavarians.
The game at the Allianz Arena on a cold European night turned out to be a hiding to remember for a side that just a year ago, lifted only its third Ligue 1 Championelle. After crashing out of the competition in the group stages last season, Rudi Garcia’s young side has kept the tradition alive and may even struggle for a place in the less prestigious yet important Europa League.
Thirty eight minutes, and the German machine had already registered a five-goal lead against the visitors who just couldn’t wait to return to the safety of the dressing room. Against the German onslaught, there was nothing the French outfit could do.
Time and time again, Canal Plus’ commentator had to pronounce Mickael Landreau’s name. The poor and shell-shocked shot-stopper must have been wondering what wrong he did to his defensive partners that he left him guarding the posts. Half-time would have been welcomed by the French custodian who really needed respite and probably, a new pair of gloves for the second half.
Rudi Garcia’s rudimentary skills of the famous hairdryer treatment must have done something good as the visitors managed to score one goal to salvage a tiny part of their pride that Salomon Kalou seemed to have found somewhere on the pitch.
Although Bayern scored another goal in the second period, Garcia must have been satisfied with his side’s second-half display. Regardless, Lille are no more the team that impressed everyone in the last two seasons and it is time for a long and thorough rebuilding process where mistakes would be made.
The defeat against Bayern Munich is indeed a demoralising one. Conceding six goals on a European night is indeed not a good omen for any side and for Lille, the game will always be remembered as one of the most cruel and coldblooded hiding that left a rash on the club’s history.
November 7, 2012 would for a long time, be remembered as a night when one of the powerhouses of French football simply had to bow down to the might of a team that is out for vengeance after suffering heartbreak in the previous two editions of the Champions League.
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