Our first European away game of the season will be the second fixture of our UEFA Champions League group stage, as we travel to Lens on Tuesday, October 6.
If you’re unfamiliar with the French side who were unexpected title challengers in France last term, then we have everything you need to know about them:
The history
Founded in 1906 by local students and their parents, Lens went on to win their first Ligue 2 title in 1937 and have since championed France’s second tier on three other occasions.
Their finest moment came in 1998 when they won the Ligue 1 title for the only time in their history, and subsequently qualified for the Champions League. A French League Cup arrived in 1998/99, and the following season saw them reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup to record their best European run, before they were eliminated by ourselves.
They remained a strong outfit in the early 2000s, winning the Intertoto Cup in 2005 and 2007, but would yo-yo between the top two tiers for the next 13 years. They were in Ligue 2 as recently as 2020 before embarking on their recent renaissance.
The stadium
Opened 90 years ago in 1933, Stade Bollaert-Delelis has a capacity of 38,223 which is actually 7,000 more than the local population. It is based on a traditional British stadium, with four separate stands with the most fervent supporters based behind the goals.
The stadium has hosted matches in a number of major tournaments, including the 1998 FIFA World Cup where England beat Colombia 2-0, plus the 1984 and 2016 European Championships, where England were again triumphant, this time 2-1 against Wales. The France national team has played at the stadium eight times, and remained undefeated.
Last season
Pushing Paris Saint-Germain right to the wire, Lens came second in Ligue 1 last season, just one point shy of top spot to record their fifth second-place finish in their history, and secure just a third Champions League berth.
A run of 10 wins from the final 11 league games saw Lens finish comfortably 11 points above Marseille in third, but a mid-season blip of one win in seven games would ultimately prove costly as they attempted to hunt down the capital club at the summit. Belgian international striker Lois Openda was the star of the season, as he netted 21 goals in all competitions before completing a £40 million move to RB Leipzig.
The manager
Head coach Franck Haise has been in charge of Lens since 2020, overseeing the recent period of success. The former midfielder has also managed Lorient B, Change, and Mayenne after beginning his managerial career in 2003.
He had previously managed the Lens’ B team after holding caretaker and assistant roles at Lorient, and once in the hoteat guided them to a seventh-place finish in each of his first two campaigns in charge, before last season’s unexpected title challenge which was recognised with him being awarded the Ligue 1 Manager of the Year award.
The squad
Lens made five summer signings in an effort to go one further in Ligue 1 this season, with the most eye-catching being Elye Wahi from Montpellier for £28 million – a French under-21 international who hit 19 goals in 33 games as he attempts to fill the vid left by Openda.
A further £13 million was spent to acquire another, his international teammate Andy Diouf from Basel, while young Colombian defender Oscar Cortes arrived from Millonarios, and teenage Uzbekistan international Abdukodir Khusanov was snapped up from Energetik-BGU.
As well as the loss of Openda, Seko Fofana switched to Saudi side Al Nassr, but fellow Ligue 1 Team of the Year members Brice Samba – who captains the team from between the posts – and Kevin Danso are key reasons why Lens conceded just 29 goals in their 38 league games last year.
Massadio Haidara and Nampalys Mendy have Premier League experience at Newcastle United and Leicester City respectively.
The season so far
This season hasn’t got off to a good start for Lens, who have lost three and drawn one of their opening four league games to leave them sitting 17th in the Ligue 1 table, with only Lyon below them on goal difference.
Things looked promising when they found themselves 2-0 up in their opening game away to Brest, but they lost 3-2 and surrendered another lead in the following draw at home to Rennes. PSG and Monaco then both put three goals past them, as the meanest defence in the division last term struggles to find their solidity this time around.
The previous meetings
We have faced Lens on four occasions, firstly in 1998 when we drew 1-1 away from home in the first Champions League match for both teams, when Marc Overmars netted our maiden goal in the competition. Later in those group stages, they beat us 1-0 at Wembley Stadium as Ray Parlour was sent off in the 90th minute. Both teams finished the group stage on eight points and were eliminated.
Then in April 2000, we were paired together in the semi-final of the UEFA Cup. Dennis Bergkamp’s second-minute strike saw us win 1-0 at Highbury in the first leg, and we completed the job with a 2-1 away win thanks to goals from Thierry Henry and Nwankwo Kanu to set up a final meeting with Galatasaray.
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