Lens secure Champions League spot, send Nantes down

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Teenage substitute Mezian Mesloub gave Lens a 1-0 win over Nantes in Ligue 1 on Friday to clinch his side’s qualification for next season’s Champions League, while relegating Nantes to the second tier.

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The result also keeps the Ligue 1 title race alive, with second-placed Lens the only team that can still pip Paris Saint-Germain to the trophy.

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The 16-year-old substitute Mesloub picked up a loose ball in the box with his first touch in the 79th minute and fired home with his second to break the deadlock on his Ligue 1 debut.

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Lens are now guaranteed a top-three finish in Ligue 1 after moving nine points clear of fourth-placed Lille, with both teams having two matches remaining.

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The top three teams in Ligue 1 qualify automatically for the Champions League group phase, while the fourth-placed side heads into the qualifying rounds.

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Lens, whose budget is not even a 10th of Champions League finalists PSG, are still to play the Parisians who lead them by three points and have a game in hand.

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Following the win, the sell-out 38,000 crowd at Lens’ Stade Bollaert stayed behind for extravagant celebrations, with the players heralded one at a time on a spotlit centre-circle with fireworks flaming.

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Stopping PSG remains an outside chance, but Lens are also eyeing silverware in the French Cup, with the final against Nice on May 22.

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Lens, the 1998 French champions, were the surprise package earlier in the season as they reached the winter break top of the table.

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Lens had three goals ruled out for offside or handball Friday as Nantes held them at bay largely thanks to goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.

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Nantes are now guaranteed to finish in the bottom two and will be relegated from Ligue 1.

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Club great Vahid Halilhodzic took over as the third coach of their season in March but could not save the Canaries.

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PSG play Brest at home on Sunday, but the Lens win has prevented them from mathematically wrapping up a fifth straight title this weekend.

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However, their far superior goal difference means victory would all but wrap up top spot.

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Luis Enrique’s men will face Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30 after beating Bayern Munich 6-5 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

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AFP

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