Lille's players lingered on the field at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, communing with their fans. The stands were still full, long after the game had finished, and the party was showing no signs of ending.
Lille's victory in the Champions League on Wednesday ended Real Madrid's 36-match unbeaten streak. This will always be remembered as the year that Lille beat Real Madrid.
The competition's new guise is, we can agree, a monument both to the self-interest of Europe's most powerful teams and the cravenness of the bodies charged with acting as custodians of soccer's health.
They wanted more games against each other. Thanks to UEFA's spinelessness, they got them.
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