There is something to be done, we said last August when discovering the homogeneous group of Losc before the Champions League starts. This Monday, difficult to make the same remark at the end of the draw for the round of 16. To continue dreaming, it will instead be necessary to strike a very big blow.
Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men will, no more and no less, challenge the reigning European champion, Chelsea of Jorginho, N’Golo Kanté, Lukaku and other Mason Mount. There was hardly a worse opponent to face in February and March for a group first. The ubiquitous mistakes of UEFA may well have offered a second chance to Losc players, they will indeed be stuck with the last winners of the competition.
“It’s a wonderful poster. It will be a big challenge for us, commented the technician from Lille hot. We will be in the position of an outsider against a team that has evolved a lot since the last confrontation (two losses 1-2 and 2-1 in the group stage in 2019-2020), with new players and a new coach. It is a club with very large resources. “
“We took perhaps the worst with Chelsea”
In terms of budget as of experience of these meetings, the comparison is obviously not necessary. There remain some objective grounds for hope. The gang to Thomas Tuchel – who necessarily knows Losc well after his 18 months at PSG – is not in brilliant form, at least at the end of autumn. The Blues lost their first place in Group H with an astonishing draw (3-3) in Saint Petersburg (Russia) against the Zenith on the final day. They had conceded only three goals in 12 Champions League games since Tuchel arrived on the bench before this match.
A sign that last season’s wall is no longer so impregnable, they have also conceded eight goals in their last five Premier League outings. For now, Chelsea are compensating for these shortcomings with an insatiable offensive force. Third in the Premier League, the London club are still fighting for the title with City and Liverpool, far ahead of their other rivals.
“As from the start, we’re going to play everything at 300% because it’s wonderful to play these matches. We did what was necessary in the group stage to be here today. We will continue in the same state of mind in the round of 16. We know that there will be a crazy atmosphere at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. When we see the noise our supporters make when the stadium is full, we obviously can’t wait to be there! »Continued Jocelyn Gourvennec. Sylvain Armand, sports coordinator of the club, does not say anything else. “We took perhaps the worst with Chelsea. But it will be an exciting draw and a feat to be created, ”he conceded, hoping for the support of the 50,000 spectators at Pierre-Mauroy. In other words, a stadium that is finally full, after a checkered start to the season in Ligue 1.
This is the second round of 16 in C1 in the history of the Mastiffs. The first ended in 2007 with an infuriating defeat against another great from England, Manchester United of Paul Scholes and young Cristiano Ronaldo. This new experience of the very high level, the Northerners will be able to live it this time at home, and not at the Bollaert stadium of the rival Lensois as they had been forced to. And just for this party, regardless of the result of the first leg at Stamford Bridge, we align with the coach’s observation: we can not wait to be there.
