How the French media reacted to Lille's Europa League draw with Celtic

Le Figaro journalist Bolat Kutlu wrote: “A week after a convincing win in Prague, Lille snatched a draw at home against Celtic after being 2-0 down at half-time… Losc, surprised by a first-half double from Mohamed Elyounoussi, reacted after the break and equalised thanks to Zeki Celik and Jonathan Ikone.

“Les Dogues, joint-top of Ligue 1 and undefeated in all competitions this season, may live to regret not taking their chances in the first half and the penalty missed by Jonathan David because overall, they dominated the Scottish team.”

Kutlu praised Celtic’s “heroic defence… who fought like lions and complicated [Lille's] task”. However, he suggested that Neil Lennon’s side were struggling to contain a physical Lille team in the latter stages, adding: “Despite a one-sided end to the game, Lille did not manage to snatch victory and must be content with the draw”.

Le Monde carried post-match quotes from a clearly affected Lille boss Christophe Galtier, who referenced the incident in Nice on the morning of the game: “France is bruised…

"Believe me, it’s been a difficult day on a personal level. I I could have chosen not to work, I would have,” he added, in a trembling voice.

L’Equipe, meanwhile, lambasted the Lille defence for “liquefying in proportions not seen since the summer”, suggesting that the French outfit may have benefited from having Jose Fonte on the pitch rather than the bench.

Romain Lafont wrote: “The Portuguese international exudes a serenity on the pitch that rubs off on his team-mates.”

Lafont also took Jonathan David to task, suggesting that his morale “may be even lower than his socks”.

Famously harsh in their man-marks, L’Equipe awarded 7/10 to Elyounoussi, and sixes for Kristoffer Ajer, Scott Bain, and Jeremie Frimpong.

The remaining players, and Lennon, received grades of four or five.

Olivier Fosseux, writing in La Voix du Nord, said: “We weren’t bored on Thursday night at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium. A noisy crowd and a third goal for [Lille] would have made for a perfect night.”

He did, however, praise Bain for his performance before suggesting that the "gods seemed to be on Celtic’s side”.

FranceFootball’s Benoît Desaint bemoaned Lille's lack of bite in the first half, branding them “apathetic” in the opening exchanges. He also highlighted the performance of Elyounoussi, suggesting that for large parts of the game the Norwegian internationalist could have dragged Celtic to victory all by himself.

He added: “But we should not attribute his goals purely to the apathy of the hosts. The former Basel forward created the chances himself and showed that [Lille] should be wary of his abilities in the return game.”

Desaint also praised the “compact Scottish defence”, particularly in shutting out Lille striker Jonathan David whose penalty miss “summed up his lack of confidence” as his goalless run stretched to ten matches.

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