PROFILE | Benjamin André – Lille’s unsung hero gets deserved European exposition | OneFootball

Captain Fantastic would be an understatement. An unsung and underappreciated hero for many years now in Ligue 1, Benjamin André is starting to enjoy his moment in the limelight with Lille back in the Champions League. With age he is becoming more than your average veteran cult figure, but one of the most reliable midfielders in the league.

Lille’s number 21 is now reaching the twilight years of his career, but his performances on the pitch for Les Dogues have impressed with a rejuvenated vigour since Bruno Génésio joined the club. The temptation of a move to Saudi Arabia in the summer wasn’t enough to lure André from his beloved Ligue 1. Instead, he has smashed past the 400-match mark in the top flight of French football. “I hope I’ll have plenty more to play,” André reacted after finding out. “As long as the body keeps up, we’ll hang in there.”

André has been a linchpin in the defensive solidity and organisation of Lille’s midfield over the last 12 months. Now the world can joyously watch along with us in the Champions League.  Against Real Madrid, he put in the hard yards so that his midfield partner, 17-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, could shine with the ball at his feet. André’s experience is like gold dust for a Lille squad that has so many young players coming through into the first team.

André the constant in Lille rotation

Yet André isn’t just an extension of Bruno Génésio’s coaching team on the pitch, for that would be wholly reductive. He has really added value on the ball in the past year, firstly under Paulo Fonseca, and now Génésio. The 34-year-old operates from a deep-lying midfield position, where he likes to control the tempo and dictate play, never shying away from taking responsibility on the ball as he does off it. He had struck up a productive relationship with Nabil Bentaleb, and then Angel Gomes in the centre of the pitch. But with injuries, illness, and squad rotation due to European football, André has been the constant.

“I don’t have the words to describe our captain,” said Paulo Fonseca at the end of last season on André. “He’s magnificent. He’s a magnificent professional who plays all the time, everywhere – a magnificent leader of our team.”

Benjamin André’s journey has almost been one of the most underrated stories in French football. Yet with Lille on the cusp for further Champions League adventures this season, recognition on the biggest stage of them all is finally vindication for the veteran midfielder.

GFFN | George Boxall