Lille boss Rudi Garcia has said that his team "lacked fantasy" during their 1-0 defeat to Montpellier HSC.
Les Dogues needed a win to keep alive hopes of retaining their Ligue 1 crown, but fell to defeat when Karim Ait-Fana scored in the dying seconds at the Stade de la Mosson on Sunday.
Garcia revealed that his team had more or less resigned themselves to losing their title but said that they would not give up until it is mathematically impossible.
"We needed to win the match and we didn't manage it despite having five attackers on the pitch at the end," said Garcia.
"A 0-0 or a 1-0 defeat changed nothing for us. Montpellier sat back and played on the counter but we knew they'd do that. We lacked a bit of fantasy in our play.
"I think that Montpellier will be champions as it's not by chance that they're at the top of the table. Even if we'd won here, we knew we didn't have much hope given that we'd still have been chasing on the final day."
Lille are now assured of a third-place finish.
Michael Penkman
