Lens Claims Trophée des Champions Amid Controversy
Lens began their season with a trophy in their hands and a storm at their backs.
On the pitch, the story was simple enough. A single strike from Florian Thauvin settled the Trophée des Champions, Lens edging PSG 1-0 to claim early silverware. The Sang et Or then dug in, surviving a long spell with a numerical disadvantage to see off the champions of France.
Everything around the pitch was anything but simple.
A “neutral” final in a sea of gold and red
This match is supposed to be the Ligue 1 showpiece, a curtain-raiser on neutral ground. The LFP chose Stade Bollaert-Delelis instead – Lens’ home, their fortress, their cauldron.
It looked and sounded exactly like that.
Madein Foot reported that around 95 per cent of the crowd wore Lens colours, with PSG fans squeezed into an allocation of just 1,850 seats in the away end. For a game billed as neutral, the imbalance was staggering. The noise, the flags, the chants – everything screamed home advantage for the northern club.
The LFP didn’t just accept that atmosphere. It leaned into it. Lens’ usual pre-match and half-time entertainment stayed on the programme, reinforcing the sense that this was a standard home night dressed up as a national showcase.
A stark contrast with last year
The scene jarred even more when set against last year’s edition. In 2023, when PSG faced Toulouse at the Parc des Princes, the LFP went out of its way to strip the stadium of its home identity. Presentation was neutral. Crowd distribution was tightly controlled at 50-50. The governing body made a point of balance.
This time, that balance vanished.
The choice of Bollaert comes less than a year after tensions flared over a postponed fixture between PSG and Lens, another flashpoint in the relationship between the capital club and the league’s organisers. According to the same report, both LFP president Vincent Labrune and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi were conspicuously absent from the stands in Lens, an omission that only added to the sense of unease around the event.
Trophy in hand, questions in the air
Lens will not apologise for celebrating. They beat PSG, lifted the Trophée des Champions and sent their fans home in raptures. On a sporting level, they did what any ambitious club must do: seize the chance, ride the wave, finish the job.
But the fallout belongs to the LFP.
By ignoring the spirit of the neutral venue rule, the governing body has reopened an old wound in French football: who gets fairness, and who gets favours? The anger over this decision has already sharpened scrutiny of how domestic competitions are staged and controlled.
Pressure is now building on the LFP to explain itself – and, more importantly, to show that the next Trophée des Champions will be decided by the teams, not by the choice of stadium.
