A penalty by Jonathan David saw Lille hand holders Real Madrid their first Champions League defeat since May 2023 following their 1-0 win at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium.
In front of a sell-out 50,000 spectators at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille managed to hold on for the victory they deserved after Canada striker David scored from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time.
Lille produced one of their best-ever European performances to secure a spot in this season’s Champions League, despite their outstanding play throughout.
In the meantime, Real, who had Kylian Mbappe play only as a substitute upon his comeback from a thigh injury, was far from the form that won them a 15th European Cup the previous year.
In the end, that might not mean much for Carlo Ancelotti’s team, who ended a 36-game winning streak dating back to January with a 3-1 victory over Stuttgart at home two weeks ago.
With everyone playing eight games instead of six, the new 36-team Champions League format at least gives room for mistake, especially for the top teams on the continent.
The matchup between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in the previous season’s final, as well as matches against AC Milan and Liverpool, could prove to be difficult.
However, it is difficult to see them missing out on at least making it to the play-off round.
On the other hand, this was maybe the greatest night of many Lille players’ careers, and they were keen to take advantage of it.
This was particularly true for Ayyoub Bouaddi, the midfield player, who made his debut at the age of 17.
Bouaddi outperformed players on the Madrid team, including Jude Bellingham, a 21-year-old relative veteran, with barely a misstep.
For the first time since moving to Spain from Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe was making an appearance on French territory. This same venue hosted his final PSG match in May during the French Cup final.
The France captain started on the bench because he had only recovered from a thigh injury sustained the previous week.
Rather, Endrick, a young Brazilian who was making his first start since joining from Palmeiras, led Real Madrid’s attack.
At eighteen years and seventy-three days, he broke Raul’s 1995 record and became the youngest player to ever start a Champions League match for Real.
Endrick nearly put Real Madrid ahead in the 19th minute when he drove into the box, but Lucas Chevalier stopped his attempt.
Before then, Lille’s custodian had denied Vinicius, but the home team was superior.
On the 25th minute, Lille came dangerously close to scoring when David met Edon Zhegrova’s cross at the back post. But, Andriy Lunin, who was starting for Real Madrid in goal with Thibaut Courtois out, saved the shot and then turned it onto the post.
The first goal came from a Zhegrova free kick that Eduardo Camavinga’s hand in the area blocked in the last minute of the first half. After looking over the pictures, the Italian referee indicated the location.
In August, during the third qualifying round, David had previously secured a vital penalty against Fenerbahce on the road. To make it 1-0, he sent Lunin in the wrong direction.
Real needed to make a shift if they were to avoid suffering their first loss in eleven games this year.
Just before the hour, Mbappe entered the game, and 39-year-old Luka Modric took Endrick’s place.
Shortly before those modifications, Zhegrova curled a shot that went just wide and had the opposite impact of what was intended.
However, Real came dangerously close to tying the score late on when Chevalier denied Arda Guler’s rebound attempt and Bellingham failed to score from it.
Lille managed to hold on as Chevalier made another outstanding stop from Guler.
