Lens beats PSG and wins the Champions Trophy in an electric atmosphere

The season has not yet started and all the usual ingredients that make up the charm (or not) of our good old Ligue 1 are already on the table? the day after the Champions Trophy won on Sunday by Lens against PSG, at home, at the Bollaert stadium. With controversies over the refereeing, while the Sang et Or notably complained about the exclusion, although not scandalous, of Kyllian Antonio for a foot a little high on the ankle of Maghnes Akliouche before the break.

And with controversies quite simply over the way in which this 31st edition of the TDC was organized between the northern winner of the Coupe de France and the Parisian winner of the French championship. For the first time, this was in fact contested not thousands of kilometers from France, in destinations that were surprising to say the least, like last year in Kuwait, which was already a source of questions about the choices of the LFP, but in Bollaert, among the Lensois, after a sports draw carried out in June.

Hakimi regrets the choice of the LFP

For Achraf Hakimi, as for the thousands of CUP ultras who had decided to boycott this trip to (not) neutral ground, this match in the den of Sang et Or distorted the situation. “We did everything to win, we created chances, we controlled the whole match. Afterwards, there are situations that we cannot control, such as coming to play on a pitch that is not neutral, without our supporters, regretted the Moroccan full-back in Ligue 1 +. It's a final, so I think we should have played in the same conditions, but that didn't happen. This is not an excuse. We did everything to win, unfortunately we didn't score. »

Four days after winning the European Super Cup against Aston Villa, Paris fell into the heat of summer and the fury of the Bollaert stadium, totally overheated by this prestigious victory, in pain, thanks to a goal from Florian Thauvin against the run of play. An anomaly according to Hakimi, who brought it back against the organizers.

The first final lost by Luis Enrique with PSG

“We have already played a lot of finals on neutral grounds, with half the stadium with our supporters and the other half with the opposing supporters. Today, it looked more like a Ligue 1 match since we were playing away, believes the Moroccan PSG side. If we want to continue to grow our championship, these are things that we must try to look at. But like I said, that's not an excuse, even if it helped them a little. » Playing the Champions Trophy against Toulouse at the Parc des Princes on January 3, 2024, however, did not move Hakimi about the lack of neutrality on the pitch.