Ligue 1 Review | Lille search for a spark amid nightmare start to 2026 | OneFootball

“We deserved at least a draw,” Lille OSC head coach Bruno Génésio said after his side’s 1-0 defeat away to Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday afternoon, “But we’ve played three matches against them this season, and all three times we’ve said the same thing.” Lille have been unable to get one over their European rivals this season, having lost home and away in the league and being eliminated by them in the Coupe de France. 

It perhaps won’t even be the last time these two will meet, with Lyon being one of the two possible opponents that Lille could face in the UEFA Europa League if they progress past FK Crvena zvezda in the playoffs (the other being Aston Villa). At this point, Génésio is likely sick of having to come across the team he managed from 2016 until 2020. 

In some ways, Génésio had a point when mentioning what Lille deserved; they weren’t particularly bad on Sunday. In fact, it was one of their better performances in 2026, which therein lies a problem, as they also weren’t particularly good. They dominated the ball, but created few problems for a Lyon side that scored late in the first half by debutant Noah Nartey, and were then happy to sit on their laurels, confident that a toothless attack wouldn’t break them down. 

Lille’s season stalls in barren 2026

Lille have had a terrible start to the year, and have slipped from fourth and level on points with Olympique de Marseille, to fifth and seven points adrift of the UEFA Champions League places. 

A run of five consecutive defeats was ended, coming into the match against Lyon with a 1-0 win over ten-man SC Freiburg on Thursday. A game that Freiburg did not need to win, and the Bundesliga sideplayed as if they had that fact on their mind. Even with this, Les Dogues needed a helping hand to crawl over the finishing line, with the Bundesliga side giving away a late, needless penalty in injury time. 

Injuries have certainly contributed to this barren record of six defeats and one win in 2026. Génésio is without Osame Sahraoui, Ousmane Touré, Nabil Bentaleb, André Gomes, Thomas Meunier, Ethan Mbappé, and, perhaps most importantly, Hamza Igamane. The Moroccan international was absent during his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations and then suffered an ACL injury in the final, which will rule him out for the rest of the season. 

Igamane has not been properly utilised by Les Dogues this season, with Génésio preferring to start the 39-year-old Olivier Giroud in the majority of league matches. However, faith in Giroud’s current ability has finally waned for Génésio, just as the point at which he has few other options. 

The transfer window to the rescue?

Against Freiburg and Lyon, Matias Fernandez-Pardo was given the nod as the no.9 over Giroud. It’s a position the Belgian-Spanish winger has occasionally played, most effectively during the 7-1 win over FC Lorient, but it wasn’t the fix that Lille were perhaps hoping for, as he looked isolated and ineffective in both of Lille’s latest games. 

Lille were one of the busier teams on transfer deadline day yesterday as they scrambled to bring in attacking reinforcements and reignite a season that looks to be drifting out of their control. Rumours began with glamorous names like Mathys Tel and Jhon Durán, but eventually it was former AJ Auxerre man Gaëtan Perrin and Toulouse FC prospect Noah Edjouma, who arrived through the door hours before the window shut. 

Génésio had said after the Lyon defeat, “We simply have to reassess our ambitions… As things stand, we cannot aspire to finish in the top three.” Whether Perrin and Edjouma will be the spark Lille needs to get back on track remains to be seen. Perrin was able to hit double figures last season for Auxerre before struggling in Russia with FC Krasnodar, while Edjouma has played in 12 matches this year and has not managed a single goal involvement. 

Question marks certainly remain, and Lille will need a convincing performance against bottom-of-the-table FC Metz on Friday if they have any hope of righting their course and matching their ambition of returning to the Champions League. 

This week’s Ligue 1 sub-plots

GFFN | Nick Hartland