On August 28, local time, in the second round of Ligue 1, Lille drew 2-2 with Paris Saint-Germain. In this match, Lille's head coach Davide Ancelotti's father, Carlo Ancelotti, came to watch the game. After the match, the younger Ancelotti spoke about his father's influence.

Although Davide Ancelotti was thrilled at the prospect of making his coaching debut at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy against Paris Saint-Germain, coached by Luis Enrique—one of his idols—he showed no emotion during Friday's match.

When the team scored their first two goals, the crowd around him erupted in celebration, but the younger Ancelotti kept his arms crossed, remaining poker-faced. Even when Paris Saint-Germain unexpectedly equalized in injury time, he maintained the same composure. Dressed in an impeccable black suit and always displaying remarkable composure, this naturally brought to mind his father, Carlo Ancelotti. This was the first time Carlo Ancelotti had come to watch his son coach since Davide was appointed Lille's head coach in June.

The coach, who loves mythology, remained as cool as a Greek statue, but he was just one step away from winning his first "epic battle" in his northern coaching journey. He nearly perfectly executed his tactical plan against Paris.

The younger Ancelotti fielded a starting lineup without any new signings, drawing inspiration from former coach Génésio's tried-and-tested approach against strong opponents—Génésio being particularly skilled at "fishing for big fish." He retained the team's 4-2-3-1 formation from before his arrival but adjusted how it operated to trouble Paris. The team was instructed to quickly exploit space behind the opponent's full-backs, utilizing direct vertical attacks and rapidly dismantling the opponent's defensive shape with one or two passes.

Under this tactical system, the right-wing combination of Thiago Santos and Ethan Mbappé performed exceptionally well. In the 7th, 18th, and 41st minutes, the Portuguese player repeatedly delivered through balls, and the younger Mbappé used his speed to make highly threatening runs, causing major problems for the Paris defense.

This direct style of play also fully showcased Alessandro's and Bentaleb's long-passing abilities and demonstrated Giroud's exceptional skill in physical contests and ball retention.

The French veteran, who will turn 40 next month, remains tireless. He delivered a masterclass in physical confrontation and back-to-goal play against the central defensive pairing of Marquinhos and Pacho.

The younger Ancelotti consistently maintained attacking numbers to keep the team threatening in transition. Even in the second half, when Lille clearly dropped deeper and absorbed considerable attacking pressure from Paris, he did not easily abandon this approach.

Ancelotti said after the match: "We knew how Paris man-marked, and we knew there would be space behind the full-backs because they are difficult to effectively mark. In the first half, we controlled the ball well and created many problems for them. But in the second half, we had much less possession because it's very difficult against such an opponent. However, if we can keep playing like this, any team coming here will have a very hard time."

The Italian coach had discussed the game plan with his father before the match. He then said with a smile, "He approved my plan, so everything is fine."

Luis Enrique also specifically praised Lille's midfielders as "very good," but what was truly noteworthy was Lille's overall high press.

Meanwhile, Lille also showed courage when building up from the back. They were willing to attract Paris's press through risky but well-executed passes, then looked for opportunities to create gaps in Paris's defensive formation.

Nabil Bentaleb was very proud of the team's overall performance: "Few people thought we would be the favorites in this match, but we proved that we can compete with them and cause them problems."

Ancelotti concluded: "We should have been more clinical with some of our chances. Against a team like this, the game is never over. However, this was a great learning experience for us and will help us gain experience for the Champions League."

At this point, Ancelotti was already focused on preparing the tactical plan for the next match.

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