Lille proved surprise Ligue 1 winners as they held their nerve to see off Paris Saint-Germain on the final day of the season, thanks to a 2-1 win over Angers.
Their success was grounded in their ability to win key matches, which came from the outstanding balance and spirit that head coach Christophe Galtier instilled in the team. Of course, there was no little talent involved, but it was Lille’s mentality that made them standout from the crowd and win a first title in a decade.
Lille had no obvious areas of weakness and benefited from never really having their squad stretched by injury or illness over a campaign that was more hectic than ever before.
While they lost key players last summer – figures that they would have expected to struggle to replace – they did so brilliantly. In particular, Burak Yilmaz was a revelation in attack as he scored 18 times in all competitions, including a glut of important strikes at the end of the season.
In the first half of the campaign, meanwhile, it was Yusuf Yazici who caught the eye as he was arguably Europe’s most in-form player for a brief period. These success stories are testimony as to how strong Lille’s recruitment in Turkey has been lately.
Similarly, though, they picked up Jonathan David from Gent and he provided a useful 13 goals though failed to justify his large transfer fee. While there was an incredible range of scorers across the attack.
Even though Renato Sanches was well below his best for much of the season, hampered by injury, the likes of Boubakary Soumare stepped up, while Benjamin Andre was an unsung hero.
Similarly, Jose Fonte’s influence in defence was immense, while Sven Botman proved one of the signings of the season. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan was outstanding, too.
Already this side is being picked apart and, with Galtier set to depart, it seems impossible for Lille to replicate this success next term already.
