06/07 Season Review: A Shaken Club

By: Julien | June 25th, 2007

LOSC logo
Wow what a season.Who would have thought that a UEFA Champions League loss would arguably decimate the club for the rest of the season. It was LOSC’s first advancement to the UEFA Champions League Knockout stage. EUROSPORT says that the club digested the Champions League defeat against Manchester United badly. A controversial goal scored by Ryan Giggs sealed the first leg match for Manchester United and helped them obtain an away goal. Lille protested the goal, and was turned down by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body. Lille instead received a €60,742 fine for “violation of binding safety and security provisions” (UEFA). The goal infuriated the Lille players. Several of them walked off the pitch during the closing minutes of the first leg match. The club played a disheartened 2nd leg match at Old Trafford. Manchester United advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 aggregate over LOSC. Then the club’s season in the domestic league went downhill. The club did very well in the first half of the season. Lille floated around the top 5 rankings in the league table for a very long time, but after the CL loss, Les Dogues never regained their composure. They ended their season 10th in the table, nowhere near the Champions League spots of Ligue 1. Their last 10 matches of the season consisted of a whopping 8 defeats, 1 draw, and a mere 2 victories. Overall, this was a very disappointing season. A recently transferred player of Lille had this to say regarding the season:

“Nous avons conscience que tout n’a pas fonctionné à 100% comme nous l’aurions souhaité. Le groupe a réalisé un gros début de saison mais il n’a pas été simple de gérer plusieurs compétitions en même temps notamment la Champions League” (We are aware that all did not function at 100% as we would have wished. The club experienced great success at the beginning of the season, but it is not easy to manage several competitions at the same time notably the UEFA Champions League).
-Kader Keita (former LOSC striker, currently plays for Olympique Lyonnais)

Keita is right that it can be very difficult to perform well in numerous competitions at the same time. During the last season, I felt that Puel relied more on the Champions League than the domestic league (Ligue 1). However, it seems to me like Keita was making an excuse for the club’s poor Ligue 1 season. Lille was officially eliminated from the CL in early March. Shouldn’t that be enough time for the club to return its focus to Ligue 1?

Video of Giggs Goal: