2023–24 RC Lens season

RC Lens
2023–24 season
President	Joseph Oughourlian
Head coach	Franck Haise
Stadium	Stade Bollaert-Delelis
Ligue 1	8th
Coupe de France	Round of 64
UEFA Champions League	Group stage
UEFA Europa League	Knockout round play-offs
Top goalscorer	League: ; Wesley Saïd (4); All: ; Wesley Saïd; Florian Sotoca; Elye Wahi; (4 each)
	← 2022–23 2024–25 →
	All statistics correct as of 14 January 2024.

The 2023–24 season is Racing Club de Lens' 117th season in existence and fourth consecutive season in Ligue 1. They are also competing in the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Players

First-team squad

As of 15 September 2023^[1]

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

Out on loan

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

Transfers

In

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Source
MF	Neil El Aynaoui	Nancy	€600,000	1 July 2023	^[2]
FW	Morgan Guilavogui	Paris FC	€4,000,000	1 July 2023	^[3]
MF	Stijn Spierings	Toulouse	Free	1 July 2023	^[4]
MF	Andy Diouf	Basel	€15,000,000	2 July 2023	^[5]
MF	Óscar Cortés	Millonarios	€4,500,000	14 July 2023	^[6]
DF	Abdukodir Khusanov	Energetik-BGU	Undisclosed	24 July 2023	^[7]
FW	Elye Wahi	Montpellier	€30,000,000	20 August 2023	^[8]
DF	Ruben Aguilar	Monaco	Undisclosed	1 September 2023	^[9]
DF	Faitout Maouassa	Club Brugge	Loan	2 September 2023	^[10]

Out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
FW	Rémy Labeau	Laval	Loan	1 July 2023	^[11]
DF	Ismaël Boura	Troyes	Free	1 July 2023	^[12]
DF	Adrien Louveau	ŁKS Łódź	Free	13 July 2023	^[13]
FW	Loïs Openda	RB Leipzig	€43,000,000	14 July 2023	^[14]
FW	Adam Buksa	Antalyaspor	Loan	18 July 2023	^[15]
MF	Seko Fofana	Al Nassr	€19,000,000	18 July 2023	^[16]
MF	Jean Onana	Beşiktaş	€4,000,000	21 July 2023	^[17]
MF	Łukasz Poręba	Hamburger SV	Loan	30 August 2023	^[18]
DF	Julien Le Cardinal	Brest	Loan	1 September 2023

Pre-season and friendlies

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

8 July 2023 Friendly	Lens	4–4	Dunkerque	Avion
11:00 UTC+2	Sotoca 12' Baldé 46' Tormin 52' Sishuba 80' (pen.) El Aynaoui 89'	Report	Ghrieb 14' Kondo 68' Etonde 72' (pen.) Mbemba 75' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade François Blin

14 July 2023 Friendly	Lens	2–2	Amiens	Avion
16:00 UTC+2	Saïd 8' Sotoca 73'		Kakuta 19', 37'	Stadium: Stade François Blin
Note: Four periods of 25 minutes.

22 July 2023 Friendly	Lens	3–0	Sochaux	Divonne-les-Bains
11:30 UTC+2	Sishuba 6', 18' Thomasson 35'	Report		Stadium: Complexe sportif de Divonne-les-Bains

22 July 2023 Friendly	Lens	2–0	Dijon	Divonne-les-Bains
16:00 UTC+2	Fulgini 6' Costa 75'	Report		Stadium: Complexe sportif de Divonne-les-Bains

29 July 2023 Friendly	VfL Wolfsburg	1–1	Lens	Wolfsburg, Germany
15:00 UTC+2	Baku 76'	Report	Machado 81'	Stadium: AOK Stadion

2 August 2023 Friendly	Lens	0–0	Torino	Lens
19:00 UTC+2				Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis

5 August 2023 Friendly	Manchester United	3–1	Lens	Manchester, England
12:30 UTC+1	Rashford 48' Antony 53' Casemiro 58'	Report	Sotoca 23'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 70,000

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Ligue 1	13 August 2023	30 May–2 June 2024	Matchday 1		19	8	5	6	23	19	+4	042.11
Coupe de France	7 January 2024		Round of 64	Round of 64	1	0	1	0	2	2	+0	000.00
UEFA Champions League	20 September 2023	12 December 2023	Group stage	Group stage	6	2	2	2	6	11	−5	033.33
UEFA Europa League	15 February 2024		Knockout round play-offs		0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total					26	10	8	8	31	32	−1	038.46

Last updated: 28 January 2024
Source: Soccerway

Ligue 1

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Reims	19	9	3	7	25	24	+1	30	Qualification for the Conference League play-off round
7	Marseille	19	7	8	4	28	21	+7	29
8	Lens	19	8	5	6	23	19	+4	29
9	Rennes	19	6	7	6	28	24	+4	25
10	Strasbourg	19	6	7	6	20	24	−4	25

Updated to match(es) played on 28 January 2024. Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head goals scored; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Goals scored; 8) Away goals scored; 9) Fair-play points (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).^[19]

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
19	8	5	6	23	19	+4	29	5	2	2	14	8	+6	3	3	4	9	11	−2

Last updated: 28 January 2024.
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
Ground	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	D	L	L	L	W	W	D	D	W	D	W	W	W	D	W	L	L	W
Position	13	14	15	17	18	16	15	14	15	10	10	6	6	6	7	7	7	8	8

Updated to match(es) played on 28 January 2024. Source: Ligue 1
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The league fixtures were unveiled on 29 June 2023.^[20]

13 August 2023 1	Brest	3–2	Lens	Brest
13:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Lees-Melou 35' Del Castillo 45+2' (pen.), 87' (pen.) Brassier 45+4' Lala 56'	Report	Sotoca 11', 48' Machado 22' Medina 52' Thomasson 82', 82' Samba 85'	Stadium: Stade Francis-Le Blé Attendance: 15,085 Referee: Jérémie Pignard

20 August 2023 2	Lens	1–1	Rennes	Lens
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Machado 3' Abdul Samed 51' Gradit 79'	Report	Bourigeaud 53' (pen.) Omari 57'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,233 Referee: Benoît Millot

26 August 2023 3	Paris Saint-Germain	3–1	Lens	Paris
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Asensio 45' Mbappé 52', 90+1'	Report	Medina 20' Sotoca 42' Spierings 79' Machado 82' Gradit 87' Guilavogui 90+5'	Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 47,864 Referee: François Letexier

2 September 2023 4	Monaco	3–0	Lens	Monaco
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Singo 24' Magassa 33' Golovin 36' Camara 47' Vanderson 52' Maripán 59' Balogun 78'	Report	Spierings 23' Medina 64'	Stadium: Stade Louis II Attendance: 9,402 Referee: Willy Delajod

16 September 2023 5	Lens	0–1	Metz	Lens
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Wahi 64'	Report	Asoro 33', 37' Candé 64'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,988 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart

24 September 2023 6	Lens	2–1	Toulouse	Lens
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Saïd 45+2' Gradit 54' Wahi 75' Guilavogui 84'	Report	Gelabert 33' Dønnum 69'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,506 Referee: Hakim Ben El Hadj

29 September 2023 7	Strasbourg	0–1	Lens	Strasbourg
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Emegha 64' Doukouré 69'	Report	Wahi 16' Gradit 33' Medina 45+3' Mendy 54' El Aynaoui 90+1'	Stadium: Stade de la Meinau Attendance: 26,001 Referee: Jérôme Brisard

8 October 2023 8	Lens	1–1	Lille	Lens
17:05 CEST (UTC+2)	Medina 17' Machado 70' Wahi 82'	Report	Cavaleiro 20' André 45+3' Alexsandro 68' Gomes 82' Yoro 90'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,223 Referee: Benoît Millot

20 October 2023 9	Le Havre	0–0	Lens	Le Havre
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Sabbi 29' Sangante 65'	Report	Diouf 12' Danso 20' Frankowski 34'	Stadium: Stade Océane Attendance: 23,590 Referee: François Letexier

28 October 2023 10	Lens	4–0	Nantes	Lens
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Sotoca 27' (pen.), 72' (pen.) Medina 58' Wahi 68' El Aynaoui 89'	Report	Cömert 68' Duverne 83'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 38,223 Referee: Pierre Gaillouste

4 November 2023 11	Lorient	0–0	Lens	Lorient
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Mvuka 40' Touré 90+4'	Report	Danso 48' Samba 90+4' Fulgini 90+4'	Stadium: Stade du Moustoir Attendance: 16,599 Referee: Bastien Dechepy

12 November 2023 12	Lens	1–0	Marseille	Lens
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Gradit 44', 90' Abdul Samed 76'	Report	Lodi 37' Vitinha 45+2'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 38,223 Referee: Benoît Bastien

25 November 2023 13	Clermont	0–3	Lens	Clermont-Ferrand
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Kyei 32' Seidu 45+2' Gonalons 68'	Report	Wahi 11', 45+1' 45+2' Thomasson 50' Khusanov 70' Saïd 82'	Stadium: Stade Gabriel-Montpied Attendance: 10,455 Referee: Benoît Millot

2 December 2023 14	Lens	3–2	Lyon	Lens
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Saïd 26' Machado 34' Medina 41' Frankowski 52' (pen.), 74' Sotoca 90+1'	Report	O'Brien 15', 72'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 38,130 Referee: Clément Turpin

8 December 2023 15	Montpellier	0–0	Lens	Montpellier
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Delaye 84' Ferri 90+2'	Report	Danso 12' Frankowski 29' Gradit 90+2'	Stadium: Stade de la Mosson Attendance: 14,159 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart

16 December 2023 16	Lens	2–0	Reims	Lens
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Saïd 43' Cortés 75'	Report	Matusiwa 21'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 38,055 Referee: François Letexier

20 December 2023 17	Nice	2–0	Lens	Nice
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Lotomba 26' Moffi 76' (pen.), 78' Dante 90+3'	Report	Khusanov 88' Guilavogui 90+6'	Stadium: Allianz Riviera Attendance: 25,041 Referee: Hakim Ben El Hadj

14 January 2024 18	Lens	0–2	Paris Saint-Germain	Lens
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Frankowski 7' Gradit 45+3'	Report	Barcola 30' Soler 52' K. Mbappé 89'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 38,200 Referee: Jérôme Brisard

28 January 2024 19	Toulouse	0–2	Lens	Toulouse
17:50 CET (UTC+1)	Dønnum 40' Nicolaisen 45' Suazo 49' Sierro 84'	Report	Saïd 36' Costa 42' Diouf 56' Haïdara 83' Sotoca 90'	Stadium: Stadium de Toulouse Attendance: 27,310 Referee: Mathieu Vernice

Coupe de France

7 January 2024 Round of 64	Lens	2–2 (5–6 p)	Monaco	Lens
14:30 CET (UTC+1)	Maouassa 23', 43' Samba 45+3' Sotoca 62' Frankowski 88'	Report	Ben Yedder 1' Akliouche 21', 53' Majecki 79'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,571 Referee: Bastien Dechepy
	Penalties
	Saïd Sotoca Fulgini Medina Danso Frankowski Aguilar El Aynaoui Thomasson		Ben Yedder Fofana Vanderson Boadu Zakaria Maripán Diop Ouattara Magassa

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2023.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	ARS	PSV	LEN	SEV
1	Arsenal	6	4	1	1	16	4	+12	13	Advance to knockout phase	—	4–0	6–0	2–0
2	PSV Eindhoven	6	2	3	1	8	10	−2	9	Advance to knockout phase	1–1	—	1–0	2–2
3	Lens	6	2	2	2	6	11	−5	8	Transfer to Europa League	2–1	1–1	—	2–1
4	Sevilla	6	0	2	4	7	12	−5	2		1–2	2–3	1–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

20 September 2023 1	Sevilla	1–1	Lens	Seville, Spain
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Ocampos 9', 73' Gudelj 37' Ramos 70'	Report	Medina 14' Sotoca 17' Samba 18' Fulgini 24', 30' Haïdara 90'	Stadium: Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Attendance: 33,544 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)

3 October 2023 2	Lens	2–1	Arsenal	Lens
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Thomasson 25' Wahi 69' Abdul Samed 90'	Report	Gabriel Jesus 14', 90'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,040 Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)

24 October 2023 3	Lens	1–1	PSV Eindhoven	Lens
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Mendy 52' Wahi 65' Abdul Samed 90+3' Saïd 90+4' Thomasson 90+4'	Report	Ramalho 30' Bakayoko 54' Boscagli 70' Pepi 90+3'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 38,133 Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania)

8 November 2023 4	PSV Eindhoven	1–0	Lens	Eindhoven, Netherlands
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	De Jong 12' Lozano 38' Ramalho 45+2'	Report	Machado 42' Danso 43' Wahi 45+1' Sotoca 45+1' Gradit 52' Medina 53' Guilavogui 82' 90+2'	Stadium: Philips Stadion Attendance: 34,200 Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

29 November 2023 5	Arsenal	6–0	Lens	London, England
20:00 GMT (UTC+0)	Havertz 13' Gabriel Jesus 21' Saka 23' Martinelli 27' Ødegaard 45+1' Jorginho 86' (pen.)	Report	Mendy 41' Khusanov 63' Haïdara 64'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 59,987 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

12 December 2023 6	Lens	2–1	Sevilla	Lens
18:45 CET (UTC+1)	El Aynaoui 37' Frankowski 63' (pen.) Medina 75' Fulgini 85', 90+6' Danso 90+9'	Report	Soumaré 61' Salas 65' Ramos 79' (pen.), 80' Mir 90+9'	Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 37,456 Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

UEFA Europa League

Knockout phase

Knockout round play-offs

The draw for the knockout round play-offs was held on 18 December 2023.

15 February 2024 First leg	Lens	v	SC Freiburg	Lens
21:00 CET (UTC+1)		Report		Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis

22 February 2024 Second leg	SC Freiburg	v	Lens	Freiburg, Germany
18:45 CET (UTC+1)		Report		Stadium: Europa-Park Stadion

References

^ "Saison 2023–2024" (in French). RC Lens. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
^ "Mercato : Neil El Aynaoui (Nancy) rejoint Lens". L'Équipe.
^ "Morgan Guilavogui, attaquant polyvalent et finisseur de talent". www.rclens.fr. June 29, 2023.
^ "RC Lens confirms Spierings arrival". Football Oranje. June 23, 2023.
^ "Andy Diouf, le coffre et la finesse". www.rclens.fr. June 30, 2023.
^ description!, beIN SPORTS. "Lens Confirms Óscar Cortés as New Player". beIN SPORTS.
^ "Abdukodir Khusanov, talent brut venu d'Asie". www.rclens.fr. July 24, 2023.
^ "Elye Wahi, phénomène en pleine ascension". www.rclens.fr. August 20, 2023.
^ "Ruben Aguilar to RC Lens". AS Monaco FC. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
^ "Faitout Maouassa, une arrivée à toute vitesse".
^ "Ligue 2. Stade lavalloise : Labeau-Lascary, prêté par Lens pour une saison, officiellement présenté". July 2023.
^ "Ismaël Boura s'engage à l'ESTAC !".
^ "Adrien Louveau dołączył do ŁKS". ŁKS Łódź - oficjalna strona dwukrotnego Mistrza Polski. July 13, 2023.
^ "Leipzig sign Openda from Lens for club-record fee". Reuters. July 14, 2023 – via www.reuters.com.
^ "Antalyaspor Polonyalı Adam Buksa'yı kiralık olarak kadrosuna kattı". 18 July 2023.
^ "Lens captain Fofana heads for Saudi club Al-Nassr". Yahoo Sports. July 18, 2023.
^ Camfoot, Redaction (July 21, 2023). "Transfert : Jean Onana quitte Lens et va s'engager avec Besiktas".
^ "Der HSV verpflichtet Lukasz Poreba". HSV.de.
^ "League Rules" (PDF). Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
^ "Ligue 1. Le calendrier complet de la saison 2023-2024" (in French). 29 June 2023.

External links

Official website

[1] "Saison 2023–2024" (in French). RC Lens. Retrieved 20 August 2023.

[2] "Mercato : Neil El Aynaoui (Nancy) rejoint Lens". L'Équipe.

[3] "Morgan Guilavogui, attaquant polyvalent et finisseur de talent". www.rclens.fr. June 29, 2023.

[4] "RC Lens confirms Spierings arrival". Football Oranje. June 23, 2023.

[5] "Andy Diouf, le coffre et la finesse". www.rclens.fr. June 30, 2023.

[6] scription!, beIN SPORTS. "Lens Confirms Óscar Cortés as New Player". beIN SPORTS.

[7] "Abdukodir Khusanov, talent brut venu d'Asie". www.rclens.fr. July 24, 2023.

[8] "Elye Wahi, phénomène en pleine ascension". www.rclens.fr. August 20, 2023.

[9] "Ruben Aguilar to RC Lens". AS Monaco FC. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

[10] "Faitout Maouassa, une arrivée à toute vitesse".

[11] "Ligue 2. Stade lavalloise : Labeau-Lascary, prêté par Lens pour une saison, officiellement présenté". July 2023.

[12] "Ismaël Boura s'engage à l'ESTAC !".

[13] "Adrien Louveau dołączył do ŁKS". ŁKS Łódź - oficjalna strona dwukrotnego Mistrza Polski. July 13, 2023.

[14] "Leipzig sign Openda from Lens for club-record fee". Reuters. July 14, 2023 – via www.reuters.com.

[15] "Antalyaspor Polonyalı Adam Buksa'yı kiralık olarak kadrosuna kattı". 18 July 2023.

[16] "Lens captain Fofana heads for Saudi club Al-Nassr". Yahoo Sports. July 18, 2023.

[17] Camfoot, Redaction (July 21, 2023). "Transfert : Jean Onana quitte Lens et va s'engager avec Besiktas".

[18] "Der HSV verpflichtet Lukasz Poreba". HSV.de.

[19] "League Rules" (PDF). Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved 1 September 2022.

[20] "Ligue 1. Le calendrier complet de la saison 2023-2024" (in French). 29 June 2023.

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v t e 2023–24 in French football
« 2022–23 2024–25 »
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 (Men) Trophée des Championnes (Women)
Women's domestic cups	Coupe de France Féminine (Final)
Club seasons
Ligue 1	Brest Clermont Le Havre Lens Lille Lorient Lyon Marseille Metz Monaco Montpellier Nantes Nice Paris Saint-Germain Reims Rennes Strasbourg Toulouse
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