The euphoria of a festive January 1 against PSG (3-1) seems far away in Lens. Then solid second in Ligue 1, the band of Seko Fofana is gradually collapsing, with only one success over the last six days of the championship and a fourth place. The bad patch continued on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, with a defeat (2-1 after opening the scoring) in Nantes in a Beaujoire behind closed doors. Frustrated to see the dream of a crazy season slip away a little more each week, Franck Haise was a good loser on the two penalties scored by Andy Delort (31st and 59th). “There is a fault in both actions, the penalties are logical, conceded the Lensois coach. The first goal is above all largely avoidable, it was necessary to have much more rigor and concentration. »
The story was quite different in the mixed zone on the side of Jean-Louis Leca, ultra-uplifted against the arbitration of Clément Turpin. “What is very frustrating is that we experience similar situations from weekend to weekend, like in Brest and Montpellier (1-1), and that there we whistle penalties against us, plague the lensois goalkeeper. As we say at home, I get a bit out of my mind by telling me that it’s good, that the situation is verified. that they [les arbitres] stop a little with their violin, with their VAR, that they all get up to speed because it is starting to tire me. And if some people want to have fun suspending me at 37, they can go, I really don’t care. »
A decisive derby in Ligue 1 on Saturday
Jean-Louis Leca therefore does not validate either the useless trip of Julien Le Cardinal on Ignatius Ganago, nor his faulty exit at the feet of the Nantes striker, both sanctioned spontaneously by Clément Turpin.
On the first penalty, there is contact, but it is a contact sport. The ball passes 1.50 m above the players, Julien remains standing, I do not see where there is fault. And on the second, “Gana” loses the ball, he throws his left foot and I take it in the head. I don’t even touch it with my hands. Now they do what they want. I’ll stop talking about them, they don’t deserve either. »
The usual replacement for Brice Samba is on edge because he knows that the mad hope of a Ligue 1 title has gone, as has the conquest of the first Coupe de France in the history of the club. The Champions League seems to be slipping away and the derby against Losc (6th) on Saturday (5 p.m.) is a turning point, so as not to jeopardize Racing’s European ambitions.