Burak Yilmaz was clearly in a bad mood. Taken in and of itself, this is not a news item, because the striker of French champions OSC Lille has been one of the most terrifying figures in the football industry for quite a while. His power, which is 1.88 meters tall, is mixed with his intention to use it, which cannot be overlooked. In addition, there are credible reports of Yilmaz, 36, from his opponents that he is by no means to be trifled with, neither in his frequent head-to-head skirmishes nor in all other types of football hand-to-hand combat.
Which brings you to Maxence Lacroix, the only 21-year-old defender of VfL Wolfsburg. On Tuesday, in the hard-won 0-0 in the first Champions League group game in Lille, the Frenchman was something like the Yilmaz special envoy: Lacroix chased the Turks into the most remote corners of the pitch and then bravely held the position, when the striker extended his elbows. And Lacroix did not shy away from using the tried and tested tricks of the dirty game himself, for example in the form of grips in the Greco-Roman style or courageous ambushes.
“You can’t always play well,” says VfL coach Mark van Bommel
It looked a bit as if Lacroix wanted to take a self-imposed high school diploma and at the same time make his superiors proud: VfL coach Mark van Bommel has earned a reputation as an “aggressive leader” in his previous life as a midfielder. And as an observer from the sidelines, he appreciates those devoted efforts that really spoil the opponent’s day. “You can’t always play well,” was van Bommel’s conclusion. That said a lot about how Wolfsburg won points in Lille in their first premier class game in five years.
Lacroix played a major role in this, and was challenged in two respects: In addition to his job as a watchdog for striker Yilmaz, the most dangerous player in the ranks of the opponent, he also appeared as the organizer of a decimated defensive network from the 63rd minute on. The actual defense chief John-Anthony Brooks had prevented an approaching attack by handball after a positional error and was expelled from the field with yellow and red. That was the most painful, but by no means the only card of the evening: The Wolfsburg team received a total of six warnings, including coach van Bommel, who gave a little tirade of rant towards the referee in the final phase – unfortunately, Danny Makkelie’s Dutch is just as powerful like his compatriot van Bommel.
But even in this increasingly heated situation, Lacroix played with the prudence of a veteran, who does not allow himself to be disturbed by moments of shock. The Frenchman and his team had to survive some of them, around the beginning of the second half, when a home team’s goal was only missed because the video referee had seen the ball in the offensive in the previous attack. Or in the last minute of stoppage time, when Lacroix afforded his only naivety of the game: A rude foul on the edge of the box against Lille’s midfielder Amadou Onana, which was initially punished with a penalty – but this decision was also withdrawn after examining the images.
Lacroix would have liked to move to Leipzig – but then had to stay in Wolfsburg
Apart from occasional negligence, the 1.90 meter tall Lacroix is a footballer who meets all the quality criteria of modern defenders: He is lightning-fast, dynamic in forward gear and relentless in duels. This collection of outstanding skills called the league competitor RB Leipzig on the scene in the summer, which was reportedly ready to pay a transfer fee of 20 million euros. However, that was not enough for Wolfsburg’s sports director Jörg Schmadtke, although that would have meant a four-fold increase in the market value within just one year. Lacroix moved from FC Sochaux to Autostadt in 2020 and, according to his own admission, would have liked to move on to Saxony because he saw the more suitable stage there to play in the field of vision of the French national coach Didier Deschamps. After the failed transfer, he was “a bit pissed off”, he said. Meanwhile, according to Lacroix, “everything is okay again”.
Is that true? A little anger in your stomach can’t hurt when you’re dealing with Burak Yilmaz, the most feared hand-to-hand fighter from Antalya to Lille.
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