“A film -ready story”
Ex-Bundesliga professional celebrates dream comeback after cardiac arrest
02/17/2025 – 8:57 a.m.Reading time: 1 min.
In the summer of 2024, ex-Bundesliga professional Nabil Bentaleb suffered a cardiac arrest. Now he’s back on the pitch-and celebrated a dream comeback.
Eight months after his cardiac arrest, the former Schalke Bundesliga professional Nabil Bentaleb put a fantastic comeback. The Algerian ex-international was substituted in the game of his club OSC Lille at Stade Rennes in the 76th minute and scored the 1-0 lead in the 2-0 win of the northern French four minutes later.
“It is incredible. These are pictures that remain in your memory for a lifetime. Things that you don’t forget. I will not forget that when I stop playing football,” said the 30-year-old, who on June 18 had collapsed in a private football game and had suffered cardiac arrest. Then a pacemaker was used.
“It is a film-ready story,” said Lille trainer Bruno Genesio: “It happens quite rarely that you experience something like this. This is a moment that will remain engraved forever in the history of the club, in his and in ours . “
For Bentaleb, who switched to his hometown in 2023, it was the first goal in the OSC jersey. From 2016 to 2021, the midfielder for Schalke 04 had scored a total of twelve goals in 82 Bundesliga games.