PLAYER RATINGS | Celta Vigo 2-1 Lille: Les Dogues crumble against ten-man hosts | OneFootball

UEFA Europa League, Matchday 7, 22/01/2026

Lille OSC limped to a 2-1 defeat against RC Celta de Vigo in the penultimate round of fixtures in the UEFA Europa League league phase. 

The Match

Within forty seconds, Celta had the ball in the back of the net as Alexsandro wilted under pressure. The centre-back tried to play out from the back, but his attempt at a crossfield pass was woeful, finding Borja Iglesias. The striker tapped it to Iago Aspas, who drew Berke Özer’s attention, then passed across goal to Williot Swedberg to place his shot into the open goal. 

The night would only get worse as Nabil Bentaleb took an awkward fall as he challenged Swedberg in the air. The midfielder’s night would end the moment he touched the ground, and he left the field clutching his shoulder, replaced by the centre-back Aïssa Mandi. 

Again, Celta had the ball in the back of the net when Aspas released Javi Rueda down Lille’s left, and his pass across goal was again finished into an empty goal by Iglesias. However, this time the offside flag would save Lille’s blushes. Lille would be provided with a further lifeline from the officials when Hugo Sotelo’s clumsy challenge on Mandi would result in a red card following a pitchside review. 

Lille would get into more promising crossing positions after the red card, but struggled to find a way to feed Olivier Giroud and make the man advantage count. The situation didn’t change dramatically after the half-time break, but slowly, Lille began to find a touch more threat. Tiago Santos found Giroud in front of the goal, but the striker’s poked shot was blocked by Ionuț Radu. 

Despite being down to ten men, Celta would make it 2-0 in the 69th minute. Carl Starfelt was left unmarked and unchallenged as he headed home from Miguel Román’s corner. Lille would find a bit of hope as Giroud halved the deficit in the 86th minute with a deflected shot, when Soriba Diaoune found him in the box. 

It was a late hope for Lille, but it would come to nothing as the more deserving team held on for the victory, leaving Les Dogues needing a victory against SC Freiburg in the final match to ensure passage into the knockout rounds.

Lille Player Ratings

Berke Özer, 4

Romain Perraud, 4

Alexsandro, 2

A singularly woeful evening for the centre-back. He helped Lille rush to a terrible start within forty seconds. He continued to struggle in the first half and made several mistakes and strange decisions that allowed Celta to look dangerous before they were pegged back by the red card. It was no surprise that Bruno Génésio pulled the plug on his evening during the break. Replaced by Matias Fernandez-Pardo (5) at half-time. 

Nathan Ngoy, 5

Thomas Meunier, 5

Replaced by Tiago Santos (5) at half-time. 

Nabil Bentaleb, N/A

Replaced by Aïssa Mandi (4) in the 9th minute. 

Ngal’ayel Mukau, 5

Félix Correia, 4

Replaced by Soriba Diaoune in the 74th minute. 

Hákon Arnar Haraldsson, 4

Marius Broholm, 3

In the summer, there was a feeling that Marius Broholm was a signing with a lot of potential, but he was not quite physically ready for a spot in the first team. He has done little to disprove this in his first campaign at Lille. He has very tricky feet, but he has a slight frame and can be easily outmuscled. His delivery is left wanting, and his ability to read the game doesn’t feel quite there yet. He really struggled in this match. He had so much space on the right, but could never find the right cross. He also didn’t track Carl Starfelt for the second goal, albeit that was a big physical mismatch. 

Olivier Giroud, 5

Following Hamza Igamane’s season-ending injury, Lille are going to be very reliant on Olivier Giroud for the rest of the campaign. The striker has found goals hard to come by, so netting tonight will be a welcome relief, with his last two strikes coming against Paris FC in late November. It wasn’t exactly a promising performance, and he struggled to find space or get touches on the ball with Celta parking the bus for most of the game. 

Celta de Vigo Selected Player Ratings

Marcos Alonso, 5

Iago Aspas, 6

Replaced at half-time by Sergio Carreira. 

Borja Iglesias, 6

Replaced at half-time by Pablo Durán. 

Carl Starfelt, 7

GFFN | Nick Hartland