At this rate, the Bollaert-Delelis stadium (38,000 seats) will be packed next Monday. Pays de Cassel, a Regional 1 club, welcomes Paris Saint-Germain to Lens for the round of 16 of the Coupe de France for a typical duel between a Petit Poucet of the cup and the ogre of Ligue 1. The ticket office has been opened this Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., and the RC Lens online sales site was stormed.
At the start of the afternoon, 28,000 spectators already had tickets. This morning, in just one hour, 10,000 tickets had been sold according to France Bleu Nord. By noon, 6,000 more tickets had gone. It is necessary to go through a virtual queue in order to hope to get a sesame for the meeting. “We made prices ranging from 10 euros to 40 euros because the objective is to fill the stadium and please the players. We wanted to make prices affordable, ”explained Gabriel Bogaert, the sports director of the amateur club on France Bleu Nord. A popular success which can also be explained by the date, a Monday, which had been controversial last week (PSG had asked the FFF to postpone its Coupe de France match to Monday because of its trip to Saudi Arabia to play a friendly game this Thursday). “If the meeting had been held this weekend, some would have missed it because they have already planned a trip or something else. This Monday suits everyone, ”says Valentin Belleval, the mayor of Hazebrouck, which hosted the last 3 French Cup matches of the US Pays de Cassel.
Bollaert is used to refueling thanks to his loyal supporters. The arrival of PSG coupled with the epic of the regional club seduces the artesian public. 29 years ago, RC Lens had already lent its lair to the neighboring club CS Avion (DH, 6th national level) for a round of 16 of the Coupe de France against PSG (1-4 ap). In the round of 32, Pays de Cassel, a sixth division team, dominated Wasquehal (N2), a team from the Lille suburbs, on penalties last Saturday. Kylian Mbappé and his teammates released Châteauroux in the previous round (3-1).