L1: Benjamin Andre, recovering and barking Dogues Lille

“Always in hot spots‘, Benjamin Andre has proven invaluable in reclaiming the ball and as the men’s captain at Lille, which struggles with that in the First Division before conceding the Metz on Friday (9:00pm), four days before the minute trip to London, against Chelsea. The French champions, only tenth before the 25th day, are hoping for a second success in a row after winning last weekend in Montpellier (1-0), a small streak the mastiff has not known in Ligue 1 since early December.

This should bring calm and welcome before the high-risk trips, on Tuesday in London in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, and then the following Sunday in Lyon. Lille will be able to draw inspiration from the performance given at Herault by their 31-year-old deputy captain Benjamin Andre, in the furnace and mill as is often the case, without sparing his races to harass opponents or launch northern attacks.

“We struggled in the first twenty minutes and Benjamin showed a lot of character as always. He is a very energetic boy, puts in a lot of effort, and is always in trouble spots”, his coach, Jocelyn Jorvinc, noted to AFP.

“maturity”

The defensive midfielder contributed to Lusk’s new solidity, who took full control of the water against PSG (defeat 5-1) a few days ago. Experienced, the Nice native played with great cleverness to thwart the plans of Tigi Savagnier and his band. “He got a yellow card very early on, like Xeka and Zeki Celik, but he managed to get into the fight and fight despite being in danger of a second warning which is another sign of maturity‘, appreciate the technician of the night.

Against Garnets, penultimate in the tournament that Marseille narrowly lost on Sunday (2-1), Lusk will try to achieve a second “clean sheet” (a match without conceding a goal) in a row, which they never managed to achieve. in the league this season. A new success will allow Lille, who are two points behind Rennes’ fifth, to reassure themselves before the trip to the den of Chelsea “The Blues”, European champions. “It’s only positive, playing big games means we’ve done well and the group is doing well. Everyone wants to play this kind of game. I feel like playing a series of matches is better than playing once a weekAndre confirmed.

43 balls recovered in C1

The former Rennes caught the Champions League late with Lille, which he joined in 2019, and has distinguished himself there this season with good individual performance: UEFA has thus ranked him among the best strikers in the group stage, with 43 exposed balls in five matches. game. But Andre and his partners will have to turn off the Champions League music this weekend and focus on welcoming Metz.

“He’s been working all week. It was different from last weekend, where everyone had to be ‘refilled’. We’ll have to focus 300% on Metz, not break up and take advantage of our experience since the start of the season dropping points on the way.Gourvennec warned. We want to be realistic about this game. It will be committed, you have to be very present, very far-sighted because it is a team that is able to corner its opponents.Go.”

Against Messins, Andre could be linked once again to Portugal’s Renato Sanchez, who has been training normally in recent days after his absence at Montpellier. What the Portuguese did not spare in the match at Stamford Bridge in favor of his compatriot Zika, the decisive in La Mausson.