The two European teams, Nice and Lille, draw (1-1), just like last season, after a very balanced match between two formations that, at times, showed all their strengths.
At the kickoff, Patrick Vieira decides to rest a player who played the entire match on Thursday against Leverkusen. Thus, Amine Gouiri is replaced by Alexis Claude-Maurice on the left side of the attack.
For the rest, the entire 11 that faltered in Germany is fielded again this Sunday against Lille.
In the first half, both teams are cautious in defense and chances are rare. There is a noticeable fatigue among both squads that played their Europa League match on Thursday and are meeting just three days later.
But right at the beginning of the second half, the Gym picks up the pace and takes the lead. In a superb collective movement, Schneiderlin breaks through several Lille lines and finds Rony Lopes in the center, who passes the ball to Claude-Maurice. The latter sees Dolberg making a run and sends him a superb ball. The Dane, alone in the box, manages to beat the Lille goalkeeper with a chipped shot.
However, Nice lets their guard down, as they did against Leverkusen, and concede a goal shortly after. Burak Yilmaz, the Turkish striker for LOSC, perfectly controls a long ball from Araujo and strikes a powerful half-volley. Benitez can do nothing as he watches the ball hit the back of the net.
Nice gets one last big chance at the end of the match through Thuram, who fails to direct the ball into the goal from a Gouiri free kick. The ball narrowly misses Maignan’s left post.
In the standings, Nice is 5th with 14 points.
Their next match will be this Thursday against Hapoel Beer-Sheva in the Europa League. Already an important match to regain momentum in group C.
