A turning point. Last Saturday, RC Lens let valuable points slip away in the race for the Champions League by conceding a draw at home, against Le Havre (1-1), a team (yet) largely within its reach on paper. Now six points behind LOSC, fourth in the standings, six days before the end of the championship, the Sang et Or have perhaps (probably?) said goodbye to the most beautiful European competition. “We have to be lucid enough to recognize that the first four places are not for us,” said Franck Haise pessimistically after the poor performance against the promoted Norman. It is therefore with new ambitions that Brice Samba and his partners are taking to the pitch at FC Metz, this Friday evening (9 p.m.), at the opening of the 29th day of Ligue 1.
“My only objective, and I’m sure it is shared with the players, is that in the few days that remain, we try to give the best of ourselves. Where is the best of us, probably not at the same level as last season, but we have to give the best,” explained the Artesian coach this week in comments reported by Lensois.com. Before specifying: “That’s our leitmotif, to make more efforts, to suffer together. I didn’t say that the Champions League was not for us in order to pique the players. It was transparency. The objectives, we have some which are achievable, in my opinion not the C1. But we will give everything to find the best place for the club.
And if the first four places are (probably) no longer accessible, the fifth, directly qualifying for the group stage of the next edition of the Europa League, seems to be an achievable goal. Indeed, OGC Nice, which occupies this position, is only one point ahead of the “RCL”…And the Aiglons have been going through a very difficult period since the beginning of February with only one success in nine matches. Suffice it to say that the Sang et Or can legitimately hope to get ahead of the Gym in this race for C3.
SEE ALSO – “I have no doubt that we can win in Barcelona”: Luis Enrique’s reaction after the defeat against the Blaugrana (2-3) in C1
But to achieve their goals, the Lensois will have to be much more efficient. And in particular on the defensive level: “What is certain is that one of our strengths to come back this season was this defensive solidity. But for a number of weeks, we have been a little more at the mercy of individual failures, sometimes bad readings of situations which may seem obvious but which were not, confided Franck Haise this week. We have a more open team block when we have to get a result. They are never the same ailments, but we are less solid, that’s obvious. It’s going to be an important part of the last six matches.”
In their last three matches, the Artésiens have conceded six goals. They will have to be much less fragile this Friday, against FC Metz in particularly good offensive form – five goals in two matches against top teams -, to hope to leave the Saint-Symphorien stadium with the three points. Will they succeed? Response at the end of the evening.