
'Everybody was already counting us out': How Lille defied the odds to win the Ligue 1 title
CNN
Lille's 2-1 victory over Angers on Sunday secured arguably the most unlikely league title in European football this season, as the French club beat powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 trophy by a single point.
As is the case for every other team in France, Lille's budget is a fraction of the Qatari-backed PSG's and its ascent to the top of French football -- from avoiding relegation by a single point as recently as 2018 -- is nothing short of remarkable. The recipe for success is Lille's close-knit squad, which has become a mix of mostly young players with a few older stars to guide them, as well as diverse group of nationalities.More Related News

More than two decades ago, on January 24, 2004, I landed in Baghdad as a legal adviser, assigned an office in what was then known as the Green Zone. It was raining and cold, and my duffle bag was thrown into a puddle off the C-130 aircraft that had just done a corkscrew dive to reach the runway without risk of ground fire. Young American soldiers greeted me as we piled into a vehicle, sped out of the airport complex and then along a road called the “Highway of Death” due to car bombs and snipers.












