It’s not often that a team waking up in 19th place in Ligue 1 on a mid-December morning can feel pleased with itself, but Racing Club de Lens is an exception. One of the more evocative names in the French game have been a welcome re-addition to the top-flight since their promotion; all the more so for the sense that pre-season that they were as nailed-on to finish as lanterne rouge - as the French call the last-placed team – as any side in recent memory.
In the wake of Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Montpellier (an eye-catching proposition themselves in recent weeks), coach Antoine Kombouaré spoke of his “pride” in “a team that never gives up”. It is becoming a recurring theme of the former Paris Saint-Germain coach’s rhetoric, having stated at the beginning of the campaign that keeping Lens in Ligue 1 would rate as better than winning a league championship – a pleasure that he was denied when his spell at the Parc des Princes was abruptly ended a few days before the end of 2011, with PSG sitting at the top of the tree.
This isn’t about Kombouaré setting the record straight for perceived injustices suffered on a personal level, however, even if it is notable that PSG went on to cede the 2011-12 title to Montpellier and began the following season with 23 points from 12 games under Carlo Ancelotti (compared to the 29 in 12 that his predecessor had racked up). This season, the man who was no-nonsense as a player for PSG, Nantes and Aberdeen is back doing what he does best – digging in and fighting against the odds.
And what odds they are. Starved of funding due to major shareholder Hafiz Mammadov’s apparent banking difficulties, Lens are currently unable to register any players, including the out-of-contract trio of Landry N’Guemo (who rated a strong 7.07 in 20 starts for Bordeaux last season), Samuel Atrous and Benjamin Boulenger. They’ve not really played a home game since their promotion either, with work on their Stade Félix-Bollaert ahead of Euro 2016 forcing them to decamp to Amiens’ Stade de la Licorne, some 120 km away. For a club and a team used to one of the most fervent home atmospheres in France, it has been a considerable adjustment. “It would be spectacular to have 19 points (at the winter break) with all the problems that we’ve encountered,” Kombouaré emphasised after Saturday’s match.
They had their hands full again on Saturday. With Montpellier’s effervescent front four of Lucas Barrios, Anthony Mounier, Jonas Martin and Morgan Sanson again shining, Lens had plenty to deal with even after the blow of going a goal down after just 47 seconds. They were two down within 16 minutes, but never looked like throwing in the towel, and Kombouaré ended the evening saying that he was disappointed with just a point.
You could see his point. While Lens’ mental strength is their most celebrated quality, they were more than simply spirit at the Altrad Stadium. Les Sang et Or (Blood and Gold) sought to take the game to their in-form hosts, enjoying 53.7% of possession and having 16 efforts on goal to Montpellier’s 12. It was little wonder that Kombouaré’s opposite number Rolland Courbis spoke in glowing terms of “seven or eight players who could become really good Ligue 1 players” in the opposition ranks.
Courbis was not attempting to patronise Kombouaré or his team – even when remarking that their expressive manner of playing made them resemble “a boy scout group on holiday” - but simply underlining their extraordinary return in the absence of any extensive experience at the top level. They are largely novices, but learning fast.
Lalaïna Nomenjanahary, the Madagascan who scored probably the most important goal of the team’s season to date – their first of the season, a winner at Lyon which gave them their first points of the campaign – is a fine example of that (with Lyon having recovered from their own shaky start to now sit just two points from the division’s summit, it is a result that looks more and more impressive as the weeks go by). He didn’t turn professional until he was 26, and might have thought his chance was gone having seen a potential move to Hamburg fall through following visa problems some years before.
Nomenjanahary could have had another famous goal for his collection at Montpellier, but saw a potential equaliser rattle the crossbar in the 11th minute. Still, he contributed strongly at both ends of the pitch, with 3 tackles, 2 shots, 2 dribbles and a key pass.
While young players such as Benjamin Bourigeaud (2 goals and an assist this season) and - more recently – towering defender Abdoul Ba (an average of 8.5 clearances per match for a rating of 7.07) are proving valuable, it is more the late bloomers like Nomenjanahary who are proving the headliners in this improvised side.
Yoann Touzghar certainly falls into that category. Having just turned 28, the forward is enjoying his first taste of Ligue 1 after a career spent in the lower divisions, and is proving to be a key figure. His late equaliser on Saturday was his 4th of the season, a crucial contribution when you consider that striking experience is one of Lens’ main problems, especially after veteran Danijel Ljuboja (an Ekstraklasa winner with Legia Warsaw in 2013) left in the run-up to the season. Touzghar’s goals are particularly impressive when you consider the limited service he receives, with just 1.3 shots per game possible to date. He has also chipped in with an assist.
The home game against Nice on Friday, then, takes on huge importance ahead of the break, as Kombouaré has hammered home. Yet the least fancied side in Ligue 1 are not to be underestimated. They clearly have the biggest hearts.
Can Lens pull off a real shock and beat the drop from Ligue 1 this season? Let us know in the comments below
