Renato Sanches was simply brilliant against Chelsea on Tuesday night.Lille might be staring at the harsh reality of a Champions League exit in the round of 16, but they could at least take pride in the performance of the former Golden Boy winner pulling the strings in their midfield.Sanches seemed to be floating around the pitch at times with the sort of dominance that reminds you exactly why he was the world's most exciting young player and snapped up by Bayern Munich once upon a time.
Sanches shines vs Chelsea
There was praise raining in left, right and centre for Sanches' performance with many deeming that his masterclass at Stamford Bridge thrust him firmly into the shop window for Europe's biggest clubs.
In fact, reporter Robin Brainer summed up that very mood perfectly by tweeting: "Renato Sanches has probably guaranteed himself a big move in the summer with that performance tonight."
And although goals from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic ensured that the Portuguese baller was on the losing side, he could still find solace in the fact that his stellar performance had completed a redemption of sorts.
Sanches' career journey
In fact, many of the tweets praising Sanches' performance actually revolved around what happened on his most infamous trip to Stamford Bridge during his ill-fated loan spell at Swansea City.
When you consider that Sanches will now have a queue of Europe's biggest clubs forming outside his door, it's crazy to think that he was panned as a flop for the Swans less than four years ago.
And it was a humiliating moment when Sanches made the trip to Stamford Bridge for a Premier League clash that damningly - and perhaps now poetically - serves as the headline moment from his time in England.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Chelsea vs Swansea City - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - November 29, 2017 Swansea City's Renato Sanches in action with Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger and Willian Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Sanches completes his redemption
That's because Sanches embarrassingly went viral for passing to an advertising board, presumably confusing the red and green Carabao logo with Swansea's away kit of the same colour.
While, yes, it's a mistake that anybody could have made, it was painfully illustrative of Sanches' entire spell at the Liberty Stadium when it looked for a long time as though his career was flying off the rails.
So, now that Sanches has now completed his turnaround by dropping a masterclass at the Bridge all these years later, be sure to appreciate just how far he's come by watching the infamous pass down below:
How times change, how times change.
From embarrassment to brilliance
Now, as poetic as it would be for Sanches' scintillating display in west London this week to be his official return to Stamford Bridge, that's actually not the case with Lille having played Chelsea back in 2019.
On that occasion, Sanches entered the fray as an 82nd-minute substitute with Lille chasing a comeback from 2-1 down with Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta scoring before Loic Remy's response.
There was neither an advertising board pass nor stunning performance from Sanches back then, but it nevertheless marked the midpoint of a transition bizarrely marked by two contrasting experiences at the Bridge.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 First Leg - Chelsea v Lille - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - February 22, 2022 Lille's Renato Sanches in action with Chelsea's Saul Niguez Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
So, while Sanches' resurgence might not stop him from passing to a logo in the future, producing a masterclass on the same site as that infamous clanger five years beforehand still makes for a stunning turnaround.
The Portuguese wizard couldn't be any further from the Swansea flop he once was after shining so bright in the Champions League. Kudos, Renato, kudos.