Montpellier Herault and LOSC Lille were dumped out unceremoniously in the Champions League and the two clubs have no one but themselves to blame for their respective disappointments
Last night, it was confirmed that apart from Paris Saint-Germain, no French team has any chance of flying the French flag in the knockout phases of the UEFA Champions League.
Bettor.com now takes a look at the respective European misadventures of both sides.
Montpellier Herault
Contesting for a place in the round of 16 of the competition against the likes of Schalke, Arsenal and Olympiacos, reigning Ligue 1 leaders, Montpellier Herault were expected to at least woo neutral by the same displays of pure football that helped them
win their first ever domestic title against all odds last season.
However, it appears that Rene Girard’s side is still coming to terms with the departure of striker Olivier Giroud who joined http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 international scored the bulk of La Paillade’s goals last season and his
departure has left a big void in the club’s armoury that is clanking way too much.
Montpellier’s run in their debut Champions League campaign can be considered as an event of defensive howlers and frailties. Almost every goal that the French champions conceded was due to either an error of judgement or a severe blunder.
Defensive frailties are parts and parcel of the beautiful game. However, these things rarely go unpunished in European games which is the reason why the competition is indeed a very fierce one. And, any team that on its day fails to pull the plugs, will
be in for a rough ride which is exactly what Montpellier experienced.
Despite the current form of last season’s star Younes Belhanda, La Paillade were lacking in most parts of the game. Once can certainly argue that the side’s inexperience of playing football at the European level was one reason why the team did so poorly
in Group B.
However, fourth place in the group with just one point makes a grim reading for a side that is the reigning champion of a league that gets to have three representatives in the Champions League every season.
The 3-1 defeat at the hands of Olympiacos was the final nail in the coffin of the Southerners who must turn their attention to the domestic league where their fortunes aren’t looking good either.
LOSC Lille
Every season in the Champions League, there is a team that is on the receiving end of a humiliating scoreline. Last season, it was Dinamo Zagreb who lost 7-1 at home to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130. This time around it was a previous French champion in LOSC Lille
that wrote its name in the history books by getting thrashed 6-1 at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich.
In a group containing the likes of the German giants, Valencia and BATE Borisov, it was always going to be a tough ask to secure qualification to the next round. However, from the first game of the tournament in which Lille lost at home to Borisov, it was
expected that Les Dogues would suffer.
And suffer they did against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 and then twice against Bayern Munich, arguably a strong contender to lift the UCL once again. With no points on the table, Europa League is also a farfetched idea for a side that must put its act together.
Disclaimer: Views in this article are the writer’s own and not of bettor.com
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