Paris Saint-Germain and Lille faced off this Saturday at the Parc des Princes for the 24th day of Ligue 1 2024-2025. The match ended in a 4-1 Parisian victory (PSG/Lille video highlights). After the match, Lille’s coach spoke at a press conference. He took responsibility for the defeat, but also criticized the scheduling of the match, despite his club’s efforts to obtain a postponement.
Génésio “we went completely wrong”.
“What went wrong against PSG?
I take full responsibility for the non-match, especially in the first half. Some nights we’re more inspired than others, and I wasn’t tonight, but you also have to take into account the quality of our opponents. Yes, we went completely wrong in the first half, but we came up against a very, very good Paris team. As far as I’m concerned, in today’s Ligue 1, there’s them and there’s everybody else.
Génésio “the programming is just scandalous.”
Do you have any regrets about your starting choices ?
No, I have no regrets, given the configuration of the two matches (Champions League Round of 8 first leg in Dortmund on Tuesday). I thought that was the best way to handle the two matches. Again, I’m not going to cry, but the scheduling is just scandalous. I think some people in the governing bodies need to question themselves”, comments relayed by L’Equipe.
It’s a shame, because first of all you get the feeling that Génésio is ready to accept defeat and take responsibility for it. His choices didn’t work, and what’s more, the Lille team came up against a PSG side in very good form. That’s the way it is, it can happen. You have to learn from it and move on (which he mentions later on in the press conference).
However, it’s regrettable that he should once again (as he did on DAZN) return to the subject of the match schedule. Which can be “annoying”, given that we’ll have to follow up with the Champions League on Tuesday. Except that it’s classic for a European club to have 3 days. Sometimes it’s 4, not often. There are a lot of parameters involved in drawing up the calendar.
PSG played on Wednesday in the Coupe de France and couldn’t play on Friday, so rescheduling the match could also be complicated if they qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals. We wonder whether we should wish it on Lille, as their schedule shouldn’t be too disrupted…
Incidentally, Borussia Dortmund, their opponents on Tuesday, also played on Saturday (victory over Sankt Pauli). Like other clubs who will be playing in the Champions League. You have to accept that it’s part of the European adventure. It’s sad to see that we can be so surprised and disappointed.
