Chapter 56: First Half – Opening the Wrong Door
And they followed. The tunnel at Stade Grimonprez-Jooris wasn’t long, but it felt narrow—bricks too close together, ceilings too low. Demien walked out behind the officials, coat folded over one arm, wind hitting just above the collar. The stands were already packed with banners, scarves, and drums. Lille’s fans weren’t singing yet; they were watching and waiting.
Porato tapped his gloves together at the edge of the box. Rodriguez and Squillaci exchanged a nod. Ibarra pointed to the touchline and said something to Grax that was lost in the roar starting to build behind them.
The whistle blew before Demien reached the dugout. He didn’t sit; he just folded the coat over the rail and crossed his arms.
From the first touch, it was wrong. Lille pressed with four—not three—not from the middle, but from the sides, forcing Plašil and Mohellebi into blind turns. Porato’s first pass was returned to him within seven seconds, and his clearance barely made it past halfway.
Demien watched, unmoving. Givet tracked a diagonal too slowly, and Ibarra was late covering inside. Lille nearly broke through in the fourth minute—a low cross, a deflection, a corner.
Porato shouted once—not in panic, but louder than usual. Monaco couldn’t breathe. El Fakiri tried to slow the rhythm—two touches, hold, reset—but no one moved off the ball. Adebayor dropped too deep to help, and Grax was alone, chasing shadows across a back four that didn’t mind passing sideways forever.
In the eighth minute, Mohellebi got caught. His first touch skipped, and the second dragged. Turnover. Lille launched it down the right, splitting Squillaci and Givet with a low-driven ball. Rodriguez came across late, slid, and cleared it into touch.
Still no adjustment. Demien turned to Michel. "They’re waiting for us to press first."
Michel didn’t respond; he just pulled the clipboard tighter under his arm. Demien stepped toward the sideline.
"Switch sooner," he called. "Don’t wait for the trap."
Plašil heard him. Givet adjusted his angle and started playing long diagonals. Ibarra took one down cleanly, bursting into Lille’s half, but had no overlap. Maurice-Belay stayed tucked inside. By the time the cross came, Adebayor was behind his marker, and Grax arrived too early.