Lille let the storm come to nothing: “We experienced dominance”

The standing ovation from the Sturm fans in the packed Graz Oval did not match the result on the scoreboard. Austria’s last international representative clearly lost the first leg of the round of 16 in the Football Conference League against OSC Lille 0:3 (0:1). The chances of advancement now tend to be zero. “Unfortunately in the end it was as clear as the result,” said Sturm coach Christian Ilzer.

helplessness

His players had no choice but to admit the dismantling. “We didn’t see the ball in the first ten minutes. And when we had it, we hit it long because we were under so much pressure,” said Dimitri Lavalée, describing the continued helplessness. His defensive colleague Jusuf Gazibegovic explained: “We didn’t trust ourselves to do so much, you could see that in a few situations.” David Affengruber said: “We couldn’t find the trigger for our pressing.”

Instead of pressing furioso, it was a system failure. “The last two meters decide whether the pressing is good or bad. We never got there, we were just chasing,” Ilzer lectured at the press conference. “Of course there are teams, whether it was Rakow or Slovan, where we can bring our game onto the pitch and perform at top level,” said Ilzer. “Then there are teams that are above that, that have enormous ball security.”

“Deserved defeat”

Lille, like previous Europa League opponents PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon, belonged to Ilzer’s second category. “In the end, you have to manage to have an ideal course of play and to press even more intensively so that you don’t have to run after so much.” On this day, none of it came together. Ilzer: “It was a deserved defeat of this magnitude. We experienced enormous dominance from the start.”

The fourth-place team from France was able to demonstrate fast, pass-safe and varied football. Sports director Andreas Schicker was amazed. “When I see how they solve every tight situation, spin out, first contact – those are things where you can learn a lot.”

Coming to terms with the first defeat of this calendar year began that night. Ilzer will probably “show his protégés where there are development points” on Friday and caress many a soul before the Hartberg guest appearance. “It’s a game that takes a toll on self-confidence if you don’t channel that properly for yourself.” Experiencing top European level in this way shouldn’t result in the realization: “It’s crazy how far away I am from this level.” But rather: “What do I have to do to reach such a level.”

End of season for Sarkaria after breaking outer ankle

The already bitter evening was overshadowed by a serious injury to Manprit Sarkaria. The offensive regular broke his outer ankle when he missed a great chance to make it 1-1. The season is over for him, as is a possible European Championship appearance. William Böving, youngster Amady Camara and Szymon Wlodarczyk, who have pubic bone problems, are supposed to compensate for the loss in the championship group. According to Ilzer, Seedy Jatta will need “a few weeks” before a comeback.

The Graz audience showed disillusionment but not sadness; the atmosphere remained atmospheric until the end in what was probably the last European Cup home game of the season. “It was our first defeat this year, but the fans always had our backs. The last 15 minutes were crazy. You want that kind of support,” said Affengruber. The polite Lille coach Paulo Fonseca even managed a “magnifique”. “I take my hat off to the Sturm Graz fans. I felt the respect in the stadium, that’s how football is fun.”

Relieved and sometimes surprised, his players commented on a game that brought them decisively closer to reaching a European quarter-final for the first time. “I expected Sturm to be more powerful,” said double goalscorer Jonathan David. The Canadian striker suspected that the reason for this was probably his team’s performance. “We let the ball switch sides very quickly. That pushed them back.”