2020–21 RC Lens season

RC Lens
2020–21 season
President	Joseph Oughourlian
Manager	Franck Haise
Stadium	Stade Bollaert-Delelis
Ligue 1	7th
Coupe de France	Round of 64
Top goalscorer	League: ; Gaël Kakuta (9); All: ; Gaël Kakuta (9)
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →
	All statistics correct as of 30 January 2021.

The 2020–21 season is the 115th season in the existence of RC Lens and the club's first season back in the top flight of French football. In addition to the domestic league, Lens will participate in this season's edition of the Coupe de France. The season covers the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

Players

First-team squad

As of 6 October 2020.^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	FRA	Didier Desprez
3	DF	GUI	Issiaga Sylla (on loan from Toulouse)
4	DF	FRA	Loïc Badé
5	DF	FRA	Zakaria Diallo
7	FW	FRA	Florian Sotoca
8	MF	CIV	Seko Fofana
10	MF	COD	Gaël Kakuta (on loan from Amiens)
11	DF	FRA	Jonathan Clauss
13	DF	FRA	Clément Michelin
14	DF	ARG	Facundo Medina
15	DF	CPV	Steven Fortès
16	GK	FRA	Jean-Louis Leca (vice-captain)
18	MF	FRA	Yannick Cahuzac (captain)
19	MF	SCO	Charles Boli
20	DF	MLI	Cheick Traoré


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	MLI	Massadio Haïdara
22	MF	FRA	Tony Mauricio
23	FW	FRA	Simon Banza
24	DF	FRA	Jonathan Gradit
25	FW	FRA	Corentin Jean
26	DF	SRB	Aleksandar Radovanović
27	FW	CMR	Ignatius Ganago
28	MF	MLI	Cheick Doucouré
29	FW	FRA	Arnaud Kalimuendo (on loan from PSG)
30	GK	VEN	Wuilker Faríñez (on loan from Millonarios)
31	FW	BFA	Cyrille Bayala
33	MF	POR	David Costa
35	DF	FRA	Ismaël Boura
—	MF	FRA	Adam Oudjani

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	FRA	Valentin Belon (on loan at Laval)
—	GK	FRA	Thomas Vincensini (on loan at Bastia)
—	FW	FRA	Gaëtan Robail (on loan at Guingamp)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	FRA	Tom Ducrocq (on loan at Bastia)
—	FW	GUI	Jules Keita (on loan at CSKA Sofia)

Reserve team

As of 6 October 2020^[2]^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	FRA	Bryan Bernard
—	GK	FRA	Tommy Plumain
—	GK	FRA	Yannick Pandor
—	DF	FRA	Ismael Boura
—	DF	FRA	Corentin Cal
—	DF	FRA	Hugo Mahieu
—	DF	FRA	Randy Mavinga
—	DF	MAR	Yanis Salmi
—	DF	FRA	Gregoire Pineau
—	MF	FRA	Yassine Chah


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	FRA	Alexis Bourigeaud
—	MF	FRA	Tom Ducrocq
—	MF	FRA	Kandet Diawara
—	MF	FRA	Ismael Hmani
—	MF	FRA	Maxence Lescroart
—	MF	FRA	Adrien Louveau
—	MF	COM	Ancoub Mze Ali
—	FW	FRA	Christopher Boussemart
—	FW	FRA	Corentin Lemaire
—	FW	FRA	Kassim Sidibe
—	FW	FRA	Gaetan Laura
—	FW	FRA	Owen Maes

Transfers

In

No.	Pos	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Source
15			TBD		1 July 2020

Out

No.	Pos	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
15			TBD		1 July 2020

Pre-season and friendlies

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

16 July 2020 Friendly	Lens	1–3	Le Havre	Billy-Montigny, France
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Sotoca 24'	Report	Thiaré 37' Meraş 50' Abdelli 57'	Stadium: Les Carabiniers Billy-Montigny Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

21 July 2020 Friendly	Lens	1–1	Gent	Billy-Montigny, France
16:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Sotoca 18' (pen.)	Report	Botaka 30' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade Paul Guerre

22 July 2020 Friendly	FC Chambly	Cancelled	Lens	Chambly, France
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Stade des Marais

1 August 2020 Friendly	Genk	1–1	Lens	Genk, Belgium
13:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Dessers 44' (pen.)	Report	Gradit 43' Michelin 47' Ganago 60'	Stadium: Luminus Arena Attendance: 0

1 August 2020 Friendly	Genk	2–3	Lens	Genk, Belgium
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Nygren 8' Odey 83'	Report	Radovanović 10' Sotoca 22' Pereira Da Costa 24'	Stadium: Luminus Arena Attendance: 0

5 August 2020 Friendly	Lens	1–3	Union Saint-Gilloise	Billy-Montigny, France
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Jean 50' Oudjani 77'	Report	Hamzaoui 53' Nielsen 59' Undav 65'	Stadium: Les Carabiniers Billy-Montigny Attendance: 0

5 August 2020 Friendly	Lens	1–2	Paris FC	Billy-Montigny, France
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Clauss 18' Badé 22' Sotoca 45' Cahuzac 59' Gradit 78'	Report	Laura 22' (pen.) Mandouki 62'	Stadium: Stade Paul Guerre Attendance: 0

15 August 2020 Friendly	Lens	Cancelled	FC Chambly	Lens, France
14:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report		Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis

15 August 2020 Friendly	Lens	Cancelled	Sparta Rotterdam	Lens, France
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report		Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis

15 August 2020 Friendly	Lens	1–0	Dijon	Lens, France
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Gradit 20' Sotoca 25' Banza 80'	Report	Muzinga 38' Manga 55' Diop 90'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis

3 September 2020 Friendly	Lens	5–2	Charleroi	Lens, France
12:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Banza 4' Kakuta 31' (pen.) Robail 63' Sotoca 88' Clauss 90+5'	Report	Nicholson 54' Costa 61'	Stadium: La Gaillette Attendance: 0

3 September 2020 Friendly	Lens	Cancelled	Charleroi	Lens, France
13:15 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: La Gaillette

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Ligue 1	23 August 2020	23 May 2021	Matchday 1	23	10	5	8	34	33	+1	043.48
Coupe de France	10 February 2021		Round of 64	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total				23	10	5	8	34	33	+1	043.48

Last updated: 3 February 2021
Source: Soccerway

Ligue 1

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
5	Marseille	38	16	12	10	54	47	+7	60	Qualification for the Europa League group stage^[a]
6	Rennes	38	16	10	12	52	40	+12	58	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round^[a]
7	Lens	38	15	12	11	55	54	+1	57
8	Montpellier	38	14	12	12	60	62	−2	54
9	Nice	38	15	7	16	50	53	−3	52

Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fairplay ranking.^[4]
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Since the winners of the 2020–21 Coupe de France, Paris Saint-Germain, qualified for European competition based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot reserved for the cup winners was passed to the fifth-placed team, and the Europa Conference League play-off round spot was passed to the sixth-placed team.

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
23	10	5	8	34	33	+1	35	4	3	4	17	17	0	6	2	4	17	16	+1

Last updated: 3 February 2021.
Source: Ligue 1

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H
Result	L	W	W	W	D	W	L	D	W	D	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	D	L	W	D
Position	17	12	6	4	6	3	5	8	10	11	8	9	8	9	7	8	7	8	9	10	9	7	7

Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2021. Source: Ligue 1
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 9 July 2020.^[5]

23 August 2020 1	Nice	2–1	Lens	Nice
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Dante 10' Gouiri 23', 75' Kamara 45+2'	Report	Kakuta 11' (pen.) Medina 41' Cahuzac 51' Boura 71'	Stadium: Allianz Riviera Referee: Jérôme Miguelgorry

10 September 2020 2	Lens	1–0	Paris Saint-Germain	Lens
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Doucouré 44' Ganago 57' Sotoca 70'	Report	Sarabia 38' Bernat 78'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Hakim Ben El Hadj
Note: The match was originally scheduled for 30 August 2020, but was postponed due to the delayed conclusion of the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League.^[6]

13 September 2020 3	Lorient	2–3	Lens	Lorient
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Boisgard 6' Grbić 14' Laporte 30' Diarra 45' Le Fée 65' Wissa 90+2' (pen.)	Report	Kakuta 31' (pen.) Medina 34' Cahuzac 49' Ganago 63' Badé 79' 90+1'	Stadium: Stade du Moustoir Referee: Aurélien Petit

19 September 2020 4	Lens	2–1	Bordeaux	Lens
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Fortès 7' Doucouré 21' Medina 39' Ganago 47' Gradit 53' Kakuta 59' (pen.) Jean 85'	Report	Otávio 8' Baysse 18' 58' Benito 76' Kalu 90+5' Maja 90+6'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Benoît Millot

27 September 2020 5	Nîmes	1–1	Lens	Nîmes
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Ferhat 87'	Report	Gradit 2' Ganago 34' Medina 50' Perez 90+5'	Stadium: Stade des Costières Referee: Frank Schneider

3 October 2020 6	Lens	2–0	Saint-Étienne	Lens
17:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Kakuta 15' (pen.), 68' Sotoca 82'	Report	Kolodziejczak 14' Maçon 64' Khazri 64'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Bastien Dechepy

18 October 2020 7	Lille	4–0	Lens	Villeneuve-d'Ascq
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Yılmaz 11' Bamba 47' Ikoné 69' Yazıcı 79'	Report	Cahuzac 18' Gradit 30' 57' Michelin 75'	Stadium: Stade Pierre-Mauroy Referee: François Letexier

8 November 2020 10	Lens	4–4	Reims	Lens
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Medina 14' Mauricio 18' Banza 21' Badé 76' Foket 77' (o.g.) Sotoca 90', 90+1'	Report	Faes 46' Cafaro 47' Dia 54', 81' Medina 79' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Thomas Léonard

22 November 2020 11	Dijon	0–1	Lens	Dijon
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Chafik 54' Marié 56'	Report	Kalimuendo 23'	Stadium: Stade Gaston Gérard Referee: Eric Wattellier

25 November 2020 8	Lens	1–1	Nantes	Lens
19:00 CET (UTC+1)	Kakuta 27', 64' Doucouré 37' Gradit 78' Badé 85'	Report	Girotto 7' Kolo 71' Touré 81' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Florent Batta
Note: The match was originally scheduled for 25 October 2020, but was postponed after eleven Lens players tested positive for COVID-19.^[7]

29 November 2020 12	Lens	1–3	Angers	Lens
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Medina 25' Kalimuendo 34' Sotoca 83'	Report	Pereira Lage 22' Bahoken 49' Manceau 52' Traoré 65' Capelle 90+1'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Aurélien Petit

5 December 2020 13	Rennes	0–2	Lens	Rennes
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Nzonzi 87'	Report	Gradit 20' Kalimuendo 28' Badé 42' Cahuzac 42' Ganago 78'	Stadium: Roazhon Park Referee: Johan Hamel

12 December 2020 14	Lens	2–3	Montpellier	Lens
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Omlin 36' (o.g.) Kakuta 50' (pen.) Cahuzac 75'	Report	Mavididi 16' Mendes 26', 38' Laborde 69'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Jérémy Stinat

16 December 2020 15	Monaco	0–3	Lens	Monaco
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Disasi 23' Pellegri 76' Aguilar 89'	Report	Sylla 1' Gradit 9' Doucouré 11' Banza 30', 33' Kakuta 39' Mauricio 80'	Stadium: Stade Louis II Referee: Frank Schneider

19 December 2020 16	Metz	2–0	Lens	Metz
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Nguette 30' Boulaya 49', 90+5'	Report	Sotoca 90+3'	Stadium: Stade Saint-Symphorien Referee: Amaury Delerue

23 December 2020 17	Lens	2–1	Brest	Lens
19:00 CET (UTC+1)	Kalimuendo 11' Sotoca 34' (pen.)	Report	Pierre-Gabriel 13' Duverne 32' Charbonnier 90+3' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Bastien Dechepy

6 January 2021 18	Lyon	3–2	Lens	Décines-Charpieu
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Depay 39', 52' (pen.) Aouar 40' Fortés 46' (o.g.)	Report	Leca 51' Sotoca 56' Badé 85' Doucouré 89'	Stadium: Parc Olympique Lyonnais Referee: Eric Wattellier

9 January 2021 19	Lens	0–1	Strasbourg	Lens
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Cahuzac 50'	Report	Diallo 21' Bellegarde 50'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Clément Turpin

17 January 2021 20	Nantes	1–1	Lens	Nantes
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Louza 36' (pen.) Kolo 50' Corchia 67' Touré 87'	Report	Kakuta 33', 81' Gradit 35' Haïdara 69' Fortès 77'	Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire Referee: Frank Schneider

20 January 2021 9	Marseille	0–1	Lens	Marseille
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Gueye 55' Balerdi 62' Perrin 69' Khaoui 81' Cuisance 90+1'	Report	Haïdara 19' Banza 25', 59' Medina 55'	Stadium: Stade Vélodrome Referee: Jérémie Pignard
Note: The match was originally scheduled for 30 October 2020, but was postponed after more than ten Lens players tested positive for COVID-19.^[8]

23 January 2021 21	Lens	0–1	Nice	Lens
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Cahuzac 61' Fortès 68'	Report	Atal 49' Boudaoui 90'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Hakim Ben El Hadj

30 January 2021 22	Montpellier	1–2	Lens	Montpellier
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Mavididi 15' Mendes 16' Laborde 18' Hilton 48' Wahi 78'	Report	Doucouré 7' Sotoca 51' Banza 55' Kakuta 67' Mauricio 83' Haïdara 90'	Stadium: Stade de la Mosson Referee: Amaury Delerue

3 February 2021 23	Lens	2–2	Marseille	Lens
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Fofana 43' Sotoca 46' Doucouré 48' Medina 61', 63' Jean 90+2'	Report	Thauvin 37' Milik 45+2' Lirola 60' Álvaro 90+1'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Referee: Willy Delajod

6 February 2021 24	Lens	v	Rennes	Lens
21:00 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis

Coupe de France

10 February 2021 Round of 64	Nantes	v	Lens	Nantes
14:45 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Ligue 1		Coupe de France
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	FRA	Didier Desprez	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	GK	FRA	Jean-Louis Leca	6	0	6	0	0	0
30	GK	VEN	Wuilker Faríñez	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	DF	GUI	Issiaga Sylla	5	0	3+2	0	0	0
4	DF	FRA	Loïc Badé	5	0	5	0	0	0
5	DF	FRA	Zakaria Diallo	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	DF	FRA	Jonathan Clauss	4	0	4	0	0	0
13	DF	FRA	Clément Michelin	3	0	2+1	0	0	0
14	DF	ARG	Facundo Medina	6	1	6	1	0	0
15	DF	CPV	Steven Fortès	2	0	1+1	0	0	0
20	DF	MLI	Cheick Traoré	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	DF	MLI	Massadio Haïdara	1	0	1	0	0	0
24	DF	FRA	Jonathan Gradit	6	0	6	0	0	0
26	DF	SRB	Aleksandar Radovanović	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	DF	FRA	Ismaël Boura	5	0	2+3	0	0	0
Midfielders
6	MF	FRA	Manuel Perez	4	0	1+3	0	0	0
8	MF	CIV	Seko Fofana	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
10	MF	COD	Gaël Kakuta	6	4	6	4	0	0
18	MF	FRA	Yannick Cahuzac	6	0	5+1	0	0	0
19	MF	SCO	Charles Boli	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	FRA	Tony Mauricio	5	0	0+5	0	0	0
28	MF	MLI	Cheick Doucouré	6	0	6	0	0	0
33	MF	POR	David Costa	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
	MF	FRA	Adam Oudjani	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
7	FW	FRA	Florian Sotoca	5	1	5	1	0	0
9	FW	FRA	Gaëtan Robail	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW	FRA	Simon Banza	5	0	1+4	0	0	0
25	FW	FRA	Corentin Jean	6	0	1+5	0	0	0
27	FW	CMR	Ignatius Ganago	6	4	5+1	4	0	0
31	FW	BFA	Cyrille Bayala	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players transferred out during the season

Last updated: 3 October 2020
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers

As of 18 October 2020

Rank	No.	Pos	Name	Ligue 1	Total
1	10	MF	Gaël Kakuta	4	4
1	27	FW	Ignatius Ganago	4	4
2	14	DF	Facundo Medina	1	1
2	7	FW	Florian Sotoca	1	1
Totals				10	10

References

^ "Saison 2020-2021" (in French). RC Lens Official Site. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
^ "JOUEURS". rclens.fr. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
^ "Effectif". rclens5962.footeo.com. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
^ "League Table". Ligue1.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
^ "Ligue 1 Uber Eats : le calendrier de la saison 2020/2021". LFP (in French). 9 July 2020.
^ "RC LENS / PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN POSTPONED TO 10 SEPTEMBER". Ligue1. 25 August 2020.
^ "RC Lens - FC Nantes postponed". ligue1.com. Ligue de Football Professionnel. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
^ "OM-Lens postponed". ligue1.com. Ligue de Football Professionnel. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.

External links

Official website

[table_note_res_ELGS0.31914785286372-4] Since the winners of the 2020–21 Coupe de France, Paris Saint-Germain, qualified for European competition based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot reserved for the cup winners was passed to the fifth-placed team, and the Europa Conference League play-off round spot was passed to the sixth-placed team.

[1] "Saison 2020-2021" (in French). RC Lens Official Site. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

[2] "JOUEURS". rclens.fr. Retrieved 6 October 2018.

[3] "Effectif". rclens5962.footeo.com. Retrieved 6 October 2018.

[5] "League Table". Ligue1.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

[6] "Ligue 1 Uber Eats : le calendrier de la saison 2020/2021". LFP (in French). 9 July 2020.

[7] "RC LENS / PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN POSTPONED TO 10 SEPTEMBER". Ligue1. 25 August 2020.

[8] "RC Lens - FC Nantes postponed". ligue1.com. Ligue de Football Professionnel. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.

[9] "OM-Lens postponed". ligue1.com. Ligue de Football Professionnel. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.

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v t e 2020–21 in French football
« 2019–20 2021–22 »
Domestic leagues	Ligue 1 Ligue 2 National National 2 National 3
Women's domestic leagues	D1 Féminine
Domestic cups	Coupe de France (Preliminaries, Final)
Super cup	Trophée des Champions
Women's domestic cups	Coupe de France Féminine (Final)
Club seasons
Ligue 1	Angers Bordeaux Brest Dijon Lens Lille Lorient Lyon Marseille Metz Monaco Montpellier Nantes Nice Nîmes Paris Saint-Germain Reims Rennes Saint-Étienne Strasbourg
Ligue 2	AC Ajaccio Amiens Auxerre Caen Chambly Châteauroux Clermont Dunkerque Grenoble Guingamp Le Havre Nancy Niort Paris FC Pau Rodez Sochaux Toulouse Troyes Valenciennes
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