The Sang et Or, completely overwhelmed, were crushed (9-1) against Como at the Bollaert stadium, Wednesday during the 4th day of the league phase. Real Madrid, difficult winner of AEK Athens (3-2), joined PSG in the lead.

Published on: 04/11/2026 - 23:37Modified on: 04/11/2026 - 23:54

This is the largest defeat of a French club in the Champions League. Totally overwhelmed by the technical superiority of Como and above all remaining in the locker room at half-time, RC Lens conceded a humiliating setback on Wednesday, November 4 against the Lombards (9-1), its third consecutive defeat in the Champions League.

After the blunders against Sporting Portugal and Club Bruges, and especially after the poor performance in the northern derby against Lille last Friday, the Lensois hoped to raise their heads and collect valuable points with the prospect of qualifying for the play-offs. But there was none of that. Harmless with the ball, the Sang et Or were unable to stop the Comask machine, carried by the Argentinian Nico Paz, scorer, decisive double passer, and tireless danger.

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And if the Italians were already leading 3-0 at the break, Lensois' defensive errors transformed into general apathy in a nightmarish second period where Yannick Cahuzac's players conceded six goals.

This scathing setback, eight goals apart, equals the two biggest defeats in C1 history: Real Madrid's 8-0 against Malmö in 2015 and Liverpool against Besiktas in 2007. But the northern club is the very first team to concede nine goals at home in the competition.

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Elusive Nico Paz

The Lensois tried to put Como under pressure from the start and were the first to hit on goal through Florian Thauvin (2nd). But Cesc Fabregas' players quickly demonstrated their superior technical ability to get their foot on the ball. And they did not take long to make it happen thanks to their center forward Anastasios Douvikas, who came to deceive Robin Risser at close range in the area and score the first of his three goals of the evening.

Then emerging, the domination of the Lombards only increased over the minutes. Embarrassed by the incessant permutations at the heart of the Comasque game, the Sang et Or briefly took their heads out of the water a quarter of an hour into the game. But Matthieu Udol's header fled the target (14th) and referee Rohit Saggi changed his mind after awarding a penalty to the Lensois, Maxence Caqueret having deflected the ball with his chest rather than his hand (17th).

Unfortunately for the Artesians, the lull did not last. Risser worked twice in front of the elusive Nico Paz (24th, 29th), before giving in, abandoned by his defense. After another good job from the Argentinian, Michal Skoras let go of the scoring in the area on Alex Valle, who was able to calmly score for Douvikas' double (32nd).

If Franjo Ivanovic came up against Jean Butez in the process (34th), the Sang et Or gradually slowed down and could only notice the world that separates them from Como on the third goal. After a breathtaking ball release, Nico Paz was found alone at the corner of the area and took advantage of a misunderstanding between Udol and Kyllian Antonio to advance towards the goal and shoot Risser (40th).

The entries of Mezian Mesloub and Saud Abdulhamid changed nothing. Worse, the Lensois are completely out of their match. After a fourth goal from French international Lucas Da Cunha, at the conclusion of a textbook one-two with Paz (47th), the Italians continued to pile up the goals (53rd, 57th, 62nd, 69th) against the Artesians who had completely given up.

While the Bollaert stadium began to empty from the hour mark and while part of the public began to chant "Olé" when Como turned the ball, Ruben Aguilar anecdotally reduced the score in the 65th minute before a new goal conceded by Lens in added time.

Madrid joins PSG in a landslide

Trailing twice, Real Madrid snatched a fourth victory in four days on the pitch of AEK Athens (3-2), thanks in particular to a goal from Kylian Mbappé. He joins PSG at the top of the league stage of the Champions League.

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Trailing until the 75th minute, it was captain Federico Valverde, who came on in the second half, who played the hero by catapulting a missile into the Greek goal, in the 92nd minute, to raise the Spanish giant (2nd) to the level of PSG (1st, 12 points).

The English giants experienced mixed fortunes on Wednesday where Arsenal, the Premier League champion and finalist of the Champions League last year, repositioned themselves in 3rd place in the League phase after a success in Prague (2-1) thanks to goals in the first period from Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres.

Manchester City, thanks in particular to Haaland returning to play, returned to the top 8, directly qualifying for the round of 16 by winning with difficulty (3-2) in Leipzig. The Citizens are now 7th just ahead of Liverpool (8th), victorious in their first three matches, but who were overthrown in the Istanbul cauldron of Fenerbahçe (3-2), after leading twice.

In the other matches of the evening, Bruges are still close behind the favorites in 9th place, thanks to their third victory in four matches, acquired at PSV Eindhoven (2-1).

Porto signed its first success in the Champions League this season by inflicting on Naples, now three losses in C1 (4-1). Thanks to this victory, the Portuguese (26th) overtook their Italian opponents (27th) in the ranking, but still out of reach of the play-off places.

Borussia Dortmund won at home against Bétis Seville (2-1), the two teams now have 3 victories each in C1. And the Stavanger Vikings easily defeated the Azerbaijanis of Sabah (4-1), which allows the Norwegians to integrate the potential play-offs, in 22nd place.

With AFP

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