AP Sports Writer (AP) — Just a year ago, Bruno Genesio left Rennes amid general indifference.
Back to work at Lille this season, the French coach is being hailed as a master tactician, drawing comparisons with his most famous peers.
The reason behind the hype?
A triumph against Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid in the Champions League followed by a win over Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid. Add to this an excellent start in Ligue 1 and Lille is unbeaten in its past 10 matches going into Sunday's game against Rennes, Genesio's former club.
The 1-0 victory against Madrid in October and the 3-1 defeat of Atletico in Spain allowed Genesio to enter a very exclusive circle. The unexpected Champions League results made him only the second coach to secure wins on the biggest stage against Ancelotti, Simeone, Pep Guardiola, and Jose Mourinho. The only other coach was Jurgen Klopp.
Genesio previously led Lyon to a win over Guardiola's Manchester City, and Mourinho’s Fenerbahce lost at Lille in Champions League qualifying this summer.
What is even more impressive is that the 58-year-old Genesio has handled an avalanche of injuries in his squad since he replaced Paulo Fonseca at Lille in June.
The former Lyon coach needed great adaptation skills and versatility to help Lille climb to fourth place in Ligue 1. Lille has gone seven games without defeat, its longest unbeaten run since December 2023.
“These results perfectly symbolize the strength of my group and the state of mind it’s in," Genesio said after a 1-1 Champions League draw against Juventus, another side with a great European pedigree. “We only had 20 players on the team sheet, including three young players who have never played in Ligue 1.”
At the various clubs he coached, Genesio has been truthful to his ideal of a game based on possession, pressing and taking risks.
“He dares to do things that perhaps others wouldn’t dare to do, like fielding attacking players and pressing high up the pitch against big teams,” said Gilles Rousset, who was part of Genesio's staff at Lyon and when he coached in China.
“He likes to try and cause problems that his opponents don’t expect. It’s not for nothing that his teams often beat the big clubs,” Rousset told French magazine So Foot.
Despite the injuries, Genesio has players with the technical quality required to develop the football he likes. Among the standouts are Jonathan David, the Canada striker with seven league goals, Kosovo winger Edon Zhegrova — who has reportedly caught the eye of Manchester United — and goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, whose stellar performances have led to a first international callup with France this month.
Sunday's match against Rennes will give Genesio the chance to add another win against a famed tactician: Jorge Sampaoli, the former Argentina coach, who signed an 18-month deal with Rennes during the international break.
In other matches, leader Paris Saint-Germain hosts Toulouse on Friday, and second-placed Monaco takes on Brest. Third-placed Marseille travels to Lens on Saturday.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press
