A willful Lille, who gave him momentum and eagerly sought victory on his return to the Champions League, was not enough to overturn the order imposed by Wolfsburg, who took a point (0-0) holding the result.
The champions of France, who have come down very far this season, gave him more quality hearts to try to start with triumph his return to the top European competition, where in the last editions in which he has participated he had left a poor image.
But he found himself with a rival who bets on the order imposed by the Dutch coach Mark van Bommel, a former Barcelona player among others, who leads the table in his country where he counts matches by victories.
The Germans played the last half hour with one man less and saw how the VAR canceled a goal from Lille, which did not stop looking for victory, but showed lack of quality.
Nothing like this team with the solid champion of last season. The relief on the bench, where Jocelyn Gourvennec has replaced Christophe Galtier, who left for Nice after winning the title, does not yet seem to give the expected results.
The team is struggling to score and is twelfth in its league in a poor start to the season.
That lack of confidence was noticeable in the European duel, despite the fact that they dominated the game and had the best chances, especially in Yilmaz boots, but Casteels was right under the posts and avoided the goal.
In 48 David succeeded, but the review of a previous play showed that the ball had gone out and the referee canceled it.
The French dominance increased when in 62 Brooks saw the second yellow and pushed the Germans even further back, who clung to defend the tie.
Lille dreamed again in the last minute of injury time, when the referee signaled a penalty in their favor, but the VAR review showed that the foul had occurred outside the area.
– Data sheet:
0 – Lille: Grbic; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Reinildo; Ikoné (Lihadji, m.74), André, Xeka (Onana, m.83), Gomes (Yazici, m.74); Yilmaz and David.
0 – Wolfsburg: Casteels; Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussilon (Gerhardt, m.83); Guilavogui, Arnold; Baku (Lukebakio, m.61), Philipp (Bornauw, m.65), Steffen (Waldschmidt, m.61); and Weghorst (Nmecha, m.65)
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED). He admonished the locals André and Ikoné and the visitors Guilavogui, Waldschmidt, Nmecha, Lacroix and Brooks, this one in two options, for which he was expelled in minute 63.
Incidents: match of the first day of the group stage of the Champions League played at the Pierre Mouroy stadium in Lille before some 30,000 spectators. EFE (HN)