Lille’s Bruno Genesio celebrates perfect night after upset win over Read Madrid

Lille coach Bruno Genesio hailed his team’s perfect night after the Ligue 1 side beat Real Madrid 1-0 to end the 15-time European Cup winner’s 14-game unbeaten streak in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Lille played without fear, pressed relentlessly and prevailed courtesy of a Jonathan David penalty in first-half stoppage time to wrap up a memorable win and hand Carlo Ancelotti’s team its first defeat in all competitions since January.
“What this team did is incredible,” Genesio said. “We try to put things in place, but you need the players to believe in the plan for this kind of upset to happen.
“You have to do everything perfectly, you need a ‘keeper who makes the decisive saves, a striker who scores and a bit of luck.”
Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier certainly did his job, making a handful of spectacular saves when Real finally applied some proper pressure.
Lille managed to keep it together after a great first half, during which it had the upper hand against a timid Real side.
“We played a very good first half, we played together, it’s a great night for everyone,” Genesio added, explaining he and his staff had studied Real’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in La Liga last weekend.
“We used this game to prepare,” he said. “We saw that Real like to cut inside, so we put intensity in that sector even if we had to abandon possession sometimes.
“Then it was all about pressing when it mattered, everything worked perfectly, it was an ideal scenario even if we suffered a lot in the last 25-30 minutes, but Lucas made the saves we needed.”
Ancelotti hopes his team will earn from the defeat after going unbeaten in 36 games across all competitions.
“It seemed like we were improving and today we took a step back,” the Italian said.
“The loss against Atletico in January helped us to change. Hopefully the same will happen now.”