The Racing Club de Lens collected a draw in Seville this Wednesday for its entry into the group stage of the Champions League (1-1).
It was a leap into the unknown that haunted minds, at the dawn of a season full of adventures, where feelings intertwined, between the excitement of rubbing shoulders with the big world and the fear of being exceeded by new specifications. Unrecognizable in the championship, RC Lens plunged into its European campaign after a frankly failed start to the season. But there are evenings when pride gives wings, even when the legs tremble a little. These Sang et Or returned to the prestigious Champions League 21 years after their last participation. And they lived up to the occasion.
On paper, this first match looked like a trap since Franck Haise’s team came up against the top seed in its group, Sevilla FC, recent winner of the Europa League. In reality, however, the Andalusian team was hardly more dashing. Stuck in the depths of La Liga, it had no favorite other than its name.
For Lens, he would have had to wet his neck before entering the deep end. The French vice-champions forgot this stage. Because it all started in the worst possible way in this match, when Lucas Ocampos, a well-known face in Ligue 1, cut a corner well kicked by Ivan Rakitic with an uncrossed header to plunge the Ramón Sánchez stadium into drunkenness. Pizjuán (1-0, 9th).
Lens didn’t give up
A new match then began. And Lens gained confidence to install his game, gradually, with a real methodology. The Sang et Or bloc has gone up a notch, and the incessant calls from Elye Wahi have ruined the life of Sergio Ramos who is well aware of the qualities of his opponent. It was precisely on an individual exploit from the international Espoir that the Lensois resurfaced. After a full-axis rush, Wahi pushed Ramos to make a mistake just at the edge of the area. Angelo Fulgini took charge of the free kick to send a missile into the top corner (1-1, 24th).
The rest was quite disjointed, each team having its highlights, without managing to bring them to fruition. Wahi continued to weigh on the attack front (58th) before his replacement, Morgan Guilavogui, caused a big thrill on a goal ball pushed back by Dmitrovic (78th).
In this strange match for the goalkeepers, the local goalkeeper, in fact, was not unforgettable in the action of his goal conceded, like Brice Samba. But he clearly raised his level of play to maintain his clean sheet in this pleasant and competitive second act. And if the score didn’t change, Samba had something to do with it too. The Sang et Or goalkeeper made up for it in his turn by pulling out all the stops, like this powerful and vicious shot from Lukebakio (69th). Lens snatches this point with great personality. Welcome to the big world.
