A victory in a derby is something to celebrate. And a regional Grand Slam over a season, even more. Winners on the lawn of Lille (2-1) on Saturday evening after a first victory in September in Ligue 1 and a second in January in the Coupe de France, the Lensois won for the first time since 2003 on the lawn of their neighbor of North. A faultless this season that their supporters wanted to salute late Saturday evening. During the night, several hundred of them were waiting for the Blood and Gold players at the entrance to their training center at La Gaillette in Avion (Pas-de-Calais).
After warming their voices by intoning the corons, the supporters of the artesian club cracked smoke bombs and sang even more ardently when the bus carrying Arnaud Kalimuendo, scorer at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, and his partners arrived in front of the gate . Inside the vehicle, the atmosphere was just as warm as shown by these images posted by the Lensois goalkeeper, Jean-Louis Leca, on his Instagram account.
While the fireworks crackle outside, the bus driver tries to make his way through the human tide, horn pressed. A few hours earlier, the numerous blasts of the vehicle’s horn had annoyed Lille defender José Fonte, who was busy answering questions from the media in the mixed zone.
But beyond the pleasure of having offered regional supremacy, RC Lens supporters can dream of a very good end to the season. “We have just won two important victories (Editor’s note: they beat Nice (3-0) a week ago) in this race for Europe. We don’t set limits, ”rejoiced the Lensois coach, Franck Haise. Seventh, the Sang et Or are only two points from fifth place, synonymous with continental qualification. If they succeed, it will be well worth a few more fireworks.