French champions LOSC Lille Metropole squandered a series of chances in a scoreless draw with Trabzonspor on Wednesday which ended their Champions League campaign and left both sides out of the tournament.
After three consecutive wins in all matches, including a 2-0 away defeat of CSKA Moscow two weeks ago, Lille coach Rudi Garcia sent out an attack-minded formation that seemed intent on taking an early advantage.
However, try as they might, Lille’s impressive front line — driven by the ever-energetic Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard — could not get the ball past Trabzonspor goalkeeper Tolga Zengin.
In the end, it did not matter as CSKA’s 2-1 win against Inter gave the Russians a round-of-16 spot.
Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau said: “It’s a horrible night. We’re bitterly disappointed. Tonight we gave it everything, but in the end we’re three points short.”
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