Lille v Galatasaray: Ancelotti laments the looted Vieux-Lille where he lives

Davide Ancelotti lives in the Vieux-Lille. Asked on Tuesday, on the eve of Galatasaray’s visit in the Champions League, the Lille manager spoke about the riots of 17 October as a resident: “I do not stay out much because I live in the Vieux-Lille. It is disheartening. I have seen many shops I used to go to where there is nothing left. It is really very sad.”

The damage goes beyond his neighbourhood. The Lille club shop was wrecked and looted, and stolen shirts were already on sale on Vinted, according to So Foot. RMC Sport also reports an intrusion into the town hall, which So Foot does not mention.

A match classed high-risk

Wednesday evening’s fixture, matchday three of the Champions League, is classed among the high-risk games. The Nord prefecture had acted as early as 13 October: access to the stadium and its surroundings will be banned for any Galatasaray supporter or sympathiser “outside the dedicated away section”, with a reinforced police presence. Galatasaray are reported to have asked UEFA for guarantees over their safety in France, according to the Turkish news agency DHA quoted by RMC Sport; So Foot states it without reservation. On Monday, interior minister Laurent Nuñez ruled out calling the next matches into question.

Lille chasing their first European points

On the pitch, Lille have nothing yet. Beaten 2-3 by Real Betis then 0-3 at Arsenal, they approach matchday three without a point. “We have to start taking points,” Ancelotti says in the headline of L’Équipe. The calendar offers no breather: on Sunday, Lille travel to Monaco, their neighbour in the Ligue 1 table, two teams on fourteen points separated only by goal difference.