A derby from the North that is worth gold: between RC Lens which aims for European places and leader Lille who dreams of the title, there is much more at stake than the traditional regional supremacy on Friday at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium (9 p.m.) .
“The stake is on the result, it is not on the rivalry between Lille and Lensois”, summarized Christophe Galtier, the coach of a Losc in search of a fourth league title, the first since 2011.
Its players also measure the tenfold importance of this meeting: “It’s much more important than a normal derby for us. Lens has ambitions, but so do we. We must not put pressure on ourselves and take the three remaining matches one after the other. I have confidence in the team ”, said the experienced Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz, used to hot derbies in his native country.
Before this 36th day out of 38, Lille (76 pts) has its destiny in its hands and does not intend to let slip his dream of a title while Paris SG (75 pts), opposed to Rennes on Sunday, is in ambush only a length of the northern leader.
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Crucial issue
Derby or not, the Losc approaches this match with its great rival as yet another final. “In the preparation of the match, nothing has changed: we are more focused on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. Lens is having a superb season, for a promoted it’s extraordinary. We stayed in the classic, the standard. Will my chat be different? No. We know the stakes… Will it be a decisive match? No because there will be two matches left after », underlined Christophe Galtier.
Lensois side, the stake is also crucial since the promoted, currently fifth (56 pts), wants to keep this place, synonymous with European qualification and also coveted by Marseille (56 pts), which moves to Saint-Etienne on Sunday.
“We still have the exceptional chance to be fifth so I don’t take care of the others”, hammered the Artesian trainer Franck Haise. “We will try to play with our principles, our playing identity, without complex, by adapting to the opponent even if we know that Lille is better than us. “
“If we can deprive Lille of the title”
The Sang et Or will also try to take their revenge after the rout of the first leg in October, where they had been corrected at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium (4-0) in a match they had finished nine.
“We will try to forget this first leg. There was an excess of confidence on our part, I think, because in the matches before the derby, everything was going well ”, Kakuta said. We took a good slap that allowed us to wake up. We worked a lot on our mistakes and today we are a completely different team, with more maturity. “
READ ALSO. RC Lens. Gaël Kakuta: “If we can deprive Lille of the title, that would be great”
Despite the absence of their supporters on Friday at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium due to a medical lock-up, the Lensois however consider this match to be a real derby.
“It’s a derby, it’s Lens-Lille. I would prefer there to be an audience, but it’s still a derby. The rivalry, I know it exists, on both sides, the important thing is that it is healthy ”, underlined Franck Haise.
And the Blood and Gold could do double duty if successful: consolidate their ambitions and ruin the hopes of coronation of Losc.
“We cannot say that the objectives have been achieved because we want to seek higher”, insists playmaker Gaël Kakuta. “And if we can deprive Lille of the title, that would be great too! “
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