Lens (France) (AFP) – The only Lensois to hold his place against Lille on Friday, goalkeeper Robin Risser made a convincing start to the season building on the momentum of his previous year and has the opportunity, Wednesday against Como, to shine in the Champions League two days behind Zidane's list.

Published on: 03/11/2026 - 14:03

Although he ended up giving in in the 86th minute at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, logically powerless against a classy half-volley from Olivier Giroud, Risser first worked brilliantly to disgust the Lille attackers one by one, multiplying the decisive saves (6 in total).

And if he only has one clean sheet in 13 matches this season, during the Champions Trophy title against Paris SG in mid-August (1-0), the 21-year-old goalkeeper has often posed as the last reassuring rampart of a defense adept at small errors.

It is in particular this “calm” and this “maturity” which is explosive for his age which convinced the sporting director and former Lens goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca to attract Risser in the summer of 2025, when the Alsatian was barred by the competition in Strasbourg.

“Whether he is very good, very average, very bad or excellent, he is always on the same frequency, he never gives off excitement. It’s something that really marks me in this position, where we go through emotions that fluctuate a lot,” Leca told AFP.

Meteorological rise

While he had no experience in L1 when he arrived at Lens, Risser quickly established himself and had a breathtaking first season, crowned with a Coupe de France title and the award for best goalkeeper in the championship.

This meteoric rise opened the door to the French team, where he took the place of third goalkeeper from Lucas Chevalier to invite himself at the last minute to the 2026 World Cup.

Restricted to a replacement role in the United States, the Lens goalkeeper nevertheless returned with a new status. “He made a parade in training and I immediately saw that he was a goalkeeper of another level, an international goalkeeper,” Florian Thauvin said upon Risser’s return.

“The way you approach a match and a competition is totally different because we put you at the World Cup, in conditions of stress and demands which are the highest possible level,” further underlined the 2018 world champion.

Towards the best

This season, Risser continued his discovery of the very high level with the Champions League, a new stage in his “constant development” according to Leca, who does not see a glass ceiling.

"He doesn't dive any better than last year" but "his decision-making is more and more judicious for the team, whether to bring out the ball, to save time, to accelerate", described the Artesian sports director for whom "Robin will be one of the 5-10 best goalkeepers in the world in the 2-3 years to come".

Decisive under the eyes of Zinédine Zidane against the PSG attackers in August, the native of Colmar appeared in the first list of the new Blues coach in September. But, "physically weakened", he had to give up and give his place to Jean Butez, Como goalkeeper whom he will challenge on Wednesday.

If Risser's return to Clairefontaine next week seems to be in little doubt, the Lensois would be well inspired to shine against a direct competitor and sign a first reference match in C1, where he alternated between the very good and the less good, notably against Sporting Portugal (2-0).

© 2026 AFP

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