Joseph Oughourlian RC Lens Champions League defeat to Como, Digi Mart USA News: Racing Club de Lens suffered the worst night in its history in front of its home crowd at Bollaert on Wednesday evening. Facing Como, Yannick Cahuzac’s players were not merely beaten but thoroughly overwhelmed by the Italian side, losing 1-9.
The result is the heaviest defeat ever suffered by a French club in the Champions League.
Club president Joseph Oughourlian spoke on Ligue 1+ to reflect on the match, which he described as historic for the club and for French football. “We took a very, very big slap on Wednesday evening.
There is only one answer to give, and that is tonight on the pitch,” he said. He said he had delivered two messages to the squad: “Plus jamais ça” (“Never again”), which he said had been written in the dressing room, and the reminder that football allows teams to respond only a few days later.
Oughourlian, a Franco-Lebanese-Armenian businessman, said the collapse could not be blamed on any single person and that he accepted his share of responsibility. “At moments like these, we must close ranks.
This is not the time to argue, take sides, or look for culprits. What failed on Wednesday was the club: the players, the coach, the sporting management, the board, and I take full responsibility,” he said.
Despite the scale of the defeat, Oughourlian said he did not want to question everything. He noted that the same team had won the Trophée des Champions and had beaten Lyon, which had been unbeaten until then.
“This is not a catastrophe, we simply need more consistency in our performances,” he said. He called for a reaction shown through attitude and results, and said the team had suffered from numerous injuries and had been unable to field the same defensive line since the start of the season.
It remains to be seen whether the message was fully received by the Lens squad. For now, that does not appear to be the case: after two minutes of play, Marseille were already ahead at Bollaert.
