If the OSC Lille is a guest at BVB on Tuesday, Nabil Bentaleb will be missing. But the story of the Algerian gives the team Kraft.
When the OSC Lille nominated the squad for the knockout phase after the successful league in the Champions League, the name Nabil Bentaleb was missing on the list. It would have been a realistic option to take the Algerian with them. Because the Bentaleb is in principle ready for use again is something very special. Because at the end of June 2024, football was out of the question for the 30-year-old. Bentaleb suffered a cardiac arrest, a heart massage and the use of a defibrillator saved his life.
He had to be put into an artificial coma, the doctors implanted him a pacemaker and a defibrillator. The continuation of his football career was initially a big question mark.
Bentaleb took some time to process the experienced physically and mentally. A former teammate helped him to have the same thing: Christian Eriksen. Bentaleb and Eriksen played together at Tottenham Hotspur. The Dane collapsed on the field at the 2021 European Championship, and he was also the cause of cardiac arrest. 259 days later he celebrated his comeback.
“I exchanged ideas with Christian, that helped me a lot. For me everything was uncertain and he helped me understand everything and also warned me of what would happen,” said Bentaleb recently.
At Bentaleb, which is likely to be known at Bundesliga fans from his time at Schalke 04 (2016 to 2021), it took 243 days until the comeback. In the league game against Stade Rennes two and a half weeks ago, the midfielder was substituted in the final quarter of an hour – and after only four minutes scored the gate to 1-0 (final score 2: 0). A fairy tale.
“At the corner I knew. I told myself that I had to help the team at 0-0. “There are things that you don’t forget and that I will not forget when I stop football is part of it.”
He had been looking forward to this moment for a long time. “I had imagined entering the field for eight months,” revealed Bentaleb. He was like a scout who watched and considered what he would do differently. “I’ve worked very hard in the past few months to achieve this result.”
For coach Bruno Génésio, Bentalbs return was “like a story from a film”. Génésio was full of praise: “He deserves it. He believed and held out. This is an incredible story. It is rare to experience something like that.”
The gate was more than just an emotional success. Génésio was certain: “This is a moment that will go into the history of the club, in its history, in our history.”
A week later, Bentaleb celebrated his home comeback against AS Monaco. In the 2-1 win there was a special applause from the Fankurve after the final whistle. The singer OSC Lilles brought Bentaleb to himself and gave a small speech in the direction of the fans: “In football, it is often said in football that professional footballers are role models for the children. He is such a role model. A damn role model for resilience, a damn role model for courage.” The returnee was duly celebrated with applause and Bentaleb speaking choirs.