When Lille lost its opening Champions League match in September, only a few bold gamblers would have bet on the Ligue 1 side to qualify for the last 16 of European club soccer’s elite tournament.

Feyenoord was handed a heavy defeat by OSC Lille in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The Rotterdammers lost the last game of the league phase 6-1 in France. Brian Priske’s side finished within the first 24 spots and qualified for the playoff round despite this.

PSV Eindhoven spoiled Arne Slot’s return to the Netherlands as a dramatic turnaround at the end of the first half handed Liverpool their first defeat in the Champions League. With his team already assured of a place in the last 16,

Lille gatecrashed the top eight of the Champions League standings and booked an unexpected place in the last 16 when they hammered hapless Feyenoord 6-1 at home on Wednesday on the last night of the group competition.

Dozens of Feyenoord fans banned from travelling to Lille for the final Champions League group game between the two clubs have been turned away or arrested at the border, according to French authorities.

But the northern France side defied all the odds and concluded the league phase campaign of the competition with a 6-1 thrashing of Feyenoord on Wednesday. It was the first time Lille scored more than three goals in the Champions League.