Bruno Genesio Unleashes Fury on His Players and Himself!

A disappointing evening for LOSC. After a promising start in the Europa League 2025/2026 with two victories, they lost at home 3-4 to PAOK, a team that had not won in Europe this season. While this defeat stings on the sporting front, the match was mainly overshadowed by controversy.

Indeed, towards the end of the first half, Tomasz Kedziora held Matias Fernandez-Pardo by the jersey inside the Greek penalty area. Surprisingly, the referee did not award a penalty to the Lille team, leading to even more discontent as PAOK quickly scored their third goal afterward. This decision sparked significant outrage from Olivier Létang, who confronted the officiating team in the stadium corridors. “I have already written to Mr. Ceferin (president of UEFA), what happened tonight is unbelievable. Where is the delegate?” he expressed. However, like Benjamin André before him, coach Bruno Genesio refrained from criticizing the referees at the press conference, instead placing the blame on his players and himself.

Genesio Takes Responsibility

“A big disappointment. I regret my choices tonight. There will be serious self-reflection, and later we will analyze the match more objectively. We played a first half unworthy of a competitive team. There are fundamentals and values to uphold in top-level football. We compromised those values in the first half, which are humility, commitment, motivation, and aggression,” Genesio stated, criticizing his players’ attitude.

“Football is also a sport of duels; we must win tackles to play the game. In the first half, we did nothing of that. But ultimately, I am the one who shapes the team, the game plan and makes tactical choices. Therefore, I am the first to be held accountable, and I will learn from this for the future,” Genesio concluded. Currently sitting eleventh in the standings after three matches, Lille remains well-positioned in the competition and has the chance to recover on Sunday in Ligue 1 when they host FC Metz.