Forty-five minutes at a very high level
Forty-five minutes. That is how long Ethan Mbappe’s night lasted as an asset to Lille. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder, playing the third Champions League match of his career, laid on the opener for Ueda, kept driving at the Andalusian defence, and linked up neatly with Tiago Santos down the right.
L’Equipe called it one of his best first halves in a Lille shirt. The paper said he had “used his pace, technical quality and sense of the game well”, while noting he still has to “learn to be more consistent”.
Then the 53rd minute. Betis had just scored a third. Natan taunted him. Mbappe answered with an elbow, and the red card was never in doubt. Lille played out the rest of their European opener with 10 men and lost 3-2 at home.
Try it for $0.99.
The apology came before midnight
He did not wait for morning. “I want to apologise to my team-mates, the staff and the fans for this unacceptable act. The defeat is entirely my fault, and I take responsibility for it. I left my team-mates in trouble in the biggest competition of all. Sorry.”
Nobody in the dressing room piled on. Benjamin Andre, 36 and a seasoned captain, called it “a youthful mistake, a lapse in concentration”. Gaetan Perrin stressed that “the group did not fall apart”.
Ancelotti aimed his message wider than one player
Davide Ancelotti widened the focus rather than point at one man. “I spoke with all the players, not just Ethan. It is something that hurt the team, something Ethan paid for, but it could be someone else tomorrow,” the Lille coach said this morning.
He has the background for it. Years on the Real Madrid bench beside his father taught him how quickly a European campaign turns on one isolated moment. His verdict was plain: “we have to work on our behaviour every day in training”.
Then there is the format. Eight games in the league phase leave almost no room for waste. Lille have burned one already.
Discover the rest of the FOOTBALL news on our site and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply