Lille begin Champions League with costly Sevilla defeat

Lille have made a damaging start to their Champions League campaign, losing a match they led twice and exposing defensive weaknesses that will need correcting quickly. The result leaves the French club without points before a difficult away fixture against Arsenal in the next round.

The Losc went ahead in the 12th minute when Ethan Mbappé supplied Ayase Ueda, who headed in his second goal in two matches. Sevilla equalised through Marc Bartra after Pablo Fornals’ cross, but Lille restored their advantage four minutes later as Alexsandro finished from Gaëtan Perrin’s corner. The visitors therefore led 2-1 at the interval.

Bartra struck again shortly after the restart, meeting an Isco delivery to make it 2-2. Troy Parrott then moved past Nathan Ngoy too easily and put the Andalusian side in front in the 53rd minute. Lille’s task became even harder when Mbappé was sent off soon afterwards for a poor challenge. Playing with ten men, they could not find another equaliser, although substitute Olivier Giroud went close late on. The defeat gives Davide Ancelotti’s team little margin for error as they prepare for Arsenal.