Bentaleb’s remarkable return could inspire Lille’s run for a Champions League spot

By Canadian Press on February 20, 2025.

PARIS (AP) — If Lille needs further motivation in its drive to qualify for the Champions League next season, then it need only look at Nabil Bentaleb’s remarkable return.

The Lille midfielder scored four minutes after going on last Sunday in a 2-0 win at Rennes and was mobbed by his teammates.

It wasn’t that he scored so soon after going on that made the goal so special, but rather because Bentaleb started training again only this month after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest in mid-June.

The 30-year-old was put into an artificial coma and fitted with a pacemaker-defibrillator days later. Doctors doubted the Algeria international would ever play again let alone resume his career at the top level.

“It’s a story worthy of a movie. It brings Nabil even more joy and emotion because he is a boy who is very well liked in the group,” coach Bruno Genesio said. “It’s pretty rare to experience this. It’s a moment that will remain engraved in the history of the club.”

Bafodé Diakité said the atmosphere in the dressing room after last Sunday’s win was something special.

“I had never experienced anything like that,” he said. “It goes beyond football.”

Now Bentaleb and his teammates must focus on catching Monaco and Nice in the Ligue 1 race for a top-four Champions League spot.

Fifth-placed Lille is only two points behind Monaco and Nice in third, so things could change on Saturday when Lille hosts Monaco.

Third place is a realistic ambition for all three sides, given that unbeaten leader Paris Saint-Germain seems too far ahead and free-scoring Marseille is six points clear in second place.

Former teammates face each other

When Nice takes on rock-bottom Montpellier on Sunday, former strike partners Gaëtan Laborde and Andy Delort are set to face each other amid contrasting circumstances.

Laborde has nine league goals for Nice this season, while Montpellier signed Delort on loan from Algerian side MC Alger to help in its desperate relegation battle.

Laborde and Delort enjoyed three full seasons together at Montpellier from 2018-21 and formed a strong partnership, with Laborde netting 33 league goals and Delort getting 38.

They began the next season together before both left. Their paths quickly met again when they played half of the 2022-23 season together at Nice — before Delort joined Nantes and angered Nice fans.

Timing could be right to beat PSG

PSG has not lost anywhere since Nov. 26 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

But Lyon will threaten that. Lyon will be fully rested after not playing in the Europa League this week. It is also resurgent after eight goals in the past two games under new coach Paulo Fonseca. PSG played on Wednesday when it trounced Brest 7-0 in the Champions League.

Rayan Cherki has found top form for Lyon in recent weeks and Fonseca has unearthed a surprising finisher.

Veteran midfielder Corentin Tolisso has scored in all three games since Fonseca took over and is enjoying his best scoring season since the 2017-18 campaign with Bayern.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer

Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press

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