Genesio: Bentaleb moment worthy of a film
17/02/2025 12:00
Lille head coach Bruno Genesio admitted the feeling of seeing Nabil Bentaleb score against Rennes is “hard to describe” after making his first appearance since suffering a cardiac arrest last year.
The Algeria international had the major health scare in June 2024 while he playing in a five-a-side game with friends and feared his career might be over.
However, Bentaleb has made a remarkable recovery and was cleared to return to action by the French Football Federation (FFF) last week.
The 30-year-old midfielder was included in Genesio’s matchday squad for the Ligue 1 clash with the Red and Blacks at Roazhon Park on Sunday and came off the bench in the 76th minute as a replacement for Ngal’ayel Mukau.
Bentaleb made an almost immediate impact as he opened the scoring on 80 minutes and Chuba Akpom sealed the 2-0 win six minutes later, which kept the Mastiffs fifth in the standings, two points outside the UEFA Champions League places.
Commenting on the Lille youth product’s goal, Genesio said: “It’s worthy of a film. He deserved it, because I don’t believe in luck, he believed in himself. It’s an incredible, wonderful story.
“Nabil’s goal put us on cloud nine, it’s hard to describe. It could be a moment that will mark the end of our season, that will remain engraved in the history of the club, of this season – and in Nabil’s mind, of course.”
