Two weeks after their draw at home against PSV Eindhoven, Lens returns to the Dutch club and could, if successful, move closer to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Follow the meeting live and with commentary, from 9 p.m., on the website linternaute.com.
From one cauldron to another. Two weeks after facing each other in the heat of Bollaert, RC Lens and PSV Eindhoven met for Act II of their duel, this time in the Dutch den, the boiling Philips Stadion. “It’s always nice to play in warm atmospheres like here”assured Adrien Thomasson at a press conference, his eyes full of envy and excitement.
The former Nantes player and his teammates are used to these fervent contexts and will not be disoriented, except by the fact that the 35,000 or so people in the stadium will be against them. A pressure already felt in Seville in the hot arena of Sanchez-Pizjuan. For the Lensois it will be a question of doing as in Andalusia and using this energy to show their character because the challenge perhaps promises to be more difficult in Eindhoven.
An impregnable stadium?
Indeed, the Dutch team changes its face when it plays at home and transforms into a steamroller. It’s been 25 consecutive matches, in all competitions, almost a year (November 12, 2022, 0-1 against AZ Alkmaar) since they last lost in front of their supporters. Supporters to whom she regularly offers offensive festivals since over the period, she scored a total of 58 goals. “We will obviously have to be very good at the defensive animation of the whole team. We saw in the first leg that when this was not the case in the first half, it was difficult”, summed up Franck Haise well in front of journalists on the eve of the match, remembering in particular this post found by Lozano in the first period. A situation that does not displease him, especially since his team built its success last season on its defensive qualities. “We are a team that is here to work, it’s our DNA, it’s our qualities”he continued.
If further proof of the offensive dimension of the team led by Peter Bosz was needed, it has scored 11 goals in its last two outings in the Championship, since its draw in the North of France, notably crushing the Ajax (5-2), certainly adrift this season. During this match, Lozano notably scored a hat-trick. The Mexican will be one of the many dangers to watch for the Lensois. “It’s a team full of confidence with a lot of assets”pointed out the artesian technician again.
Another option for Lens
However, there remains the Champions League dimension and the Batavians do not yet seem to have fully grasped it, to the point of waiting for success in the competition for more than five years. “We have to improve in various aspects. We will have to be more efficient to win”, said Peter Bosz bluntly. The Northerners have already tasted the flavor of victory but they would not be against doing it again. For this, it will therefore be necessary to defend well and it is in this sense that Franck Haise has organized his team with the probable tenure of Adrien Thomasson in place of Angelo Fulgini. The Savoyard trained in Annecy presents a more hardworking and enduring profile, ideal for curbing opposing offensives and keeping up the pace, something Lens had sometimes struggled with at home. For the rest, Haise renewed his confidence in his group, which has regained its defensive solidity in Ligue 1 and has not lost in eight games.
An invincibility which gives confidence as much as its accounting situation with five points after 3 days. “We’re not in a bad position as we speak, but if we can make it even better…”, indicated Franck Haise. For that, we will have to take it where everyone else has been struggling for a year but Lens is not at its first surprise and would be happy to extinguish the Dutch pot.
The match of 4th day of the group stage of the Champions League, in Group B, between PSV Eindhoven and RC Lens will take place from 9 p.m., at the Phlips Stadion, in Eindhoven.
The match of 4th day of the group stage of the Champions League, in Group B, between PSV Eindhoven and RC Lens will be broadcast live on Canal+ and RMC Sport 1.
The meeting between Peter Bosz’s PSV Eindhoven and Franck Haise’s RC Lens will be available in streaming on the CanalPlay and RMC/BFM Play platform.
Betclic: PSV Eindhoven: 1.68 / Draw: 3.98 / RC Lens: 4.67
Parions Sport: PSV Eindhoven: 1.72 / Draw: 4.00 / RC Lens: 4.72
Winamax: PSV Eindhoven: 1.72 / Draw: 4.00 / RC Lens: 4.60
PSV Eindhoven: Benitez – Teze, Ramalho, Boscagli, Dest – Schouten, Veerman, Tillman – Bakayoko, de Jong (cap.), Lozano
RC Lens: Samba (cap.) – Frankowski, Gradit, Danso, Medina, Machado – Mendy, Abdul Samed – Sotoca, Thomasson, Wahi.