By SCM Sports Reporter
DECATHLON ARENA – Stade Pierre-Mauroy – IF YOU thought spaceships only landed in movies, you clearly haven’t spent a Thursday night in Villeneuve-d’Ascq.
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy doesn’t just host football matches; it engulfs them. And last night, this metallic beast of a venue chewed up Dinamo Zagreb and spat them out in a 4-0 drubbing that shook the rivets of its famous retractable roof.
From the outside, the arena looks like a silver alien cocoon dropped into the suburbs of Lille. But inside? Inside, it was a pressure cooker set to ‘explode’.
The 50,000-seater technological marvel—known for its ability to transform from a football pitch to a concert hall in 24 hours—transformed into a torture chamber for the visitors.
The acoustics here are designed to trap noise, and the Lille faithful took full advantage, creating a wall of sound that seemed to physically push the ball into the net.
When Félix Correia slotted the opener after 21 minutes, the roar didn’t just echo; it vibrated through the concrete.
It was the kind of noise that makes you check if the stadium’s famous hydraulic elevators are shifting beneath your feet.
This venue is a far cry from the open-air, windswept terraces of old. It’s a modern theatre, and last night the script was perfect for the Les Dogues.
Young Ngal’ayel Mukau doubled the lead before the break, sending the Ultras in the North Stand tumbling over each other in a kaleidoscope of red and white. By the time Hamza Igamane curled in the third in the 69th minute, the futuristic arena felt less like a stadium and more like a nightclub, bouncing under the floodlights.
Spare a thought for the travelling Croatians. They came to play football but found themselves trapped in a sci-fi blockbuster.
Every time they looked up, the towering, steep banks of seating seemed to lean in on them, suffocating their midfield and cutting off their escape routes.
Benjamin André added the glossy fourth late on, a goal that felt like the final curtain call on a flawless performance.
As the final whistle blew, the stadium’s LED ribbon boards flashed in victory, illuminating the faces of thousands of fans who lingered long after the game.
They didn’t want to leave. And who could blame them?
In a stadium built for the future, Lille played football that was simply ahead of its time.
