Luxembourg back to old ways with timid defeat to Northern Ireland

If the result itself wasn’t depressing enough for some, the performance (or lack thereof) certainly was.

Luc Holtz had a few selection headaches before his team’s debut in the competition’s current edition, after injuries to Yvandro, Marvin Martins, Vahid Selimović, Vincent Thill and Mirza Mustafić meant none of the above players could feature for a squad that was already missing Maxime Chanot and Danel Sinani due to suspension.

The manager solved the riddle by trusting the experienced Lars Gerson at the back, while Dirk Carlson deputised for Mica Pinto, who hasn’t played a competitive fixture in over five months and thus was clearly lacking the required fitness to start. In midfield, the Christopher Martins – Leandro Barreiro – Mathias Olesen trio was pencilled in long before the game, but the attacking department saw more surprises: two full-backs, Eric Veiga and Florian Bohnert, started on each side of striker Gerson Rodrigues in the 4-3-3 formation.

While Bohnert has played this role for his national team before, this was the first time Veiga was tasked with primarily attacking duties, and the unusual formation showed its flaws throughout the game. Without the creative influence of the Thills (Vincent injured, Olivier abandoned by Holtz, Sébastien left on the bench), there was no one to replace Sinani's deadliness in front of goal and Yvandro’s 1-v-1 abilities.

As a result, it often seemed like Gerson was the only player with the aim of making anything happen in the opponents' half, and the midfield runs from Barreiro and Olesen were widely ineffective.

It took little for the hosts to break the deadlock, with Paddy McNair opening the scoring from a flick-on after a corner 11 minutes in. Another set piece brought success shortly afterwards, as Danny Ballard registered a goal after his assist by firing past Anthony Moris from inside the box.

The two early goals established a Northern Ireland dominance that Luxembourg struggled to break for the remainder of the game. The hosts kept threatening for the rest of the first half, too, and it required heroic interventions from Moris to soften the blow.

There was only one change from Luxembourg at half-time, with Pinto taking onto the pitch in the place of Enes Mahmutović in defence. The second half was arguably more open, with Gerson Rodrigues and Olesen both missing chances in front of goal. Another notable moment was the introduction of Christophe Andrade Brites, as he made his first-ever senior appearance at any level in Belfast.

Dudelange U17s defender Brites has been capped at youth level before, but his inclusion in the first-team selection was by far the biggest surprise manager Holtz struck when making his squad. The versatile young talent has never even made a competitive appearance in senior football at club level, and for what it’s worth, he did not look out of place in his 17 minutes against Northern Ireland’s finest.

Next stop: Stade de Luxembourg

The attacking woes experienced on Thursday will undoubtedly be solved to an extent once Danel Sinani returns for the home game on Sunday. Luxembourg's top scorer in the previous campaign, the attacker has the ability to unlock defences from either wing or even centrally. His understanding of Gerson's play is also much more instinctive than anyone else’s from the current squad, due to the pair building up an effective partnership on the pitch over the years.

Not much can be changed about the personnel at the back, however. Chanot's direct red card against Georgia ruled him out for two competitive fixtures, meaning he will not be eligible against Belarus either. The other primary centre-back, Mahmutović, looked out of depth against Northern Ireland and will have to do remarkably better if he is to be guarding the backline once again.

Altogether, while the hardest game of the campaign is behind us, Luxembourg’s attacking inefficiency and long-standing frailties of defending set pieces can hurt them against any opponent. There are areas with huge question marks in Holtz's game plan, and he will have to come up with something revolutionary (again) to prove that he is still the man for the job.

On Sunday, beating Belarus at home is the minimum expectation among the wider public. Competitive performances against Bulgaria would also help in restoring some chance of the Red Lions topping their Division C group and get their first-ever promotion to Division B, alongside a boost to their World Cup 2026 chances.