Olimpija played a historic match and lost: Lille was the better opponent in France, the victory deservedly stayed at home

Published on 20. September 2023 21. September 2023

It was historic, even if it ended differently than all those who wanted it to Olimpija dear to their hearts. The Ljubljana team played its first ever match in the group stage of any European Cup. The Conference League kicked off for the Green and Whites in France, where there were also a good number of fans of the Slovenian champions. They saw for themselves that there is a big difference between the best and the not-so-good. But far from being in the Lille
embarrassed. Or something like that… Not by chance.

Lille was indeed better and deserved to win, but Olimpija’s 0:2 defeat was more than worthy. In one of the most football developed countries, the Dragons have sold their skin dearly and proved beyond doubt that they deserve to be where they are.

In the first half of a historic match for the visitors, the image on the pitch was expected. It was Lille who played, Olimpija who defended. The French were too strong for the dragons, but they were fighting, organised, disciplined. Above all, they had … Matevž Vidovšek! The Olimpija goalkeeper further raised his price in the land of the Gallic roosters with some really great defences, which kept the Dragons in the game for a long time.

Lille’s superiority was so strong at times that Olimpija couldn’t even get the ball. The ball possession in the first half – 68:32 percent in favour of the home team – says a lot about that. The latter goal hung in the air for a long time and 43. Vidovšek finally fell in the final minute. Only from the white spot, but still. Agustin Doffo committed a rather stupid foul in the penalty area, which at first sight was not very obvious, but the Dutch referee did not miss his intervention. He pointed to the white spot, listened to the opinion of the VAR room and stuck to his decision. Jonathan David shot from 11 metres, easily beating Vidovšek, who was heading the wrong way.

Lille Olimpia

Although Lille deservedly won the opening half of the game, it is true that despite their superiority, Olimpija went on the attack several times. They had a few promising chances, but the visitors from Ljubljana fell well short of posing a serious threat to goalkeeper Lillo Lucas Chevalier. 8:0 shots in favour of Lille says a lot about the first half…

In the second half, Lille was not so strong, Olimpija was a bit more brave and cheeky, but it would be hard to argue that the balance of power changed much. The visitors were really trying to at least try to threaten the goal of their former club Milenko Aćimović, but the latter defended his advantage more often than not without too much trouble. An advantage he has more often than not accepted, as he was not as involved in the attack as before.

Olimpija scored 85. Mustafa Nukić fired the first shot on goal, which was dangerous a few moments later, but what the Dragons couldn’t do, the visitors could. These are in 93. In the final minute, they scored their second goal, which came after a big mistake by the visitors’ defence, to win 2:0.