In the first half of the thrilling battle, the Lille team showed an amazing ability to control the field. In the 37th minute, Sahlavi broke the deadlock with a clever low shot into the far corner of the net. Immediately after, in the 45th+2nd minute, Barker added to the lead. However, Kiteishvili scored for Graz Storm in the 45th+4th minute to make the score 1-2.
On the changeover, Lille once again had a hole on the defensive end and Bireth capitalized on the opportunity, assisting the Graz Storm to even the score at 2-2. At the crucial moment, Jonathan Davey assisted Haraldsson in scoring to give Lille a 3-2 come-from-behind win.
According to the data analysis, Lille had 67% of the possession, hit 9 goals from 18 shots and had 9 corner kick chances, while Graz Storm had 10 shots but only 4 hits and only 2 corner kick chances. Overall, Lille had the slight edge and deserved the win.
It's worth noting that Lille went unbeaten in 15 consecutive matches after the win, which included defeats in the Champions League against powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bologna and Storm Graz, most of which were league teams. Currently, Lille are sixth in the table with 13 points and are almost a lock to qualify for the play-offs (top 24).
It's also worth noting that Lille's head coach, Genesio, was the head coach of Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan. He took over in the summer of 2019, but was fired after only a year and a half in charge.
Now, Genesio led Lille to shine in the Champions League. In addition to steadily improving the team's ranking, Lille has also reaped generous bonuses, including €18.62 million in entry fees, €9.1 million in match bonuses, and €27.08 million in basic bonuses, totaling €44.8 million.
