RC Lens can secure direct Champions League qualification on Friday when it host Nantes at Bollaert, with kickoff set for 20:45 in a brought-forward 33rd matchday fixture. One point would be enough to guarantee a place in the competition, while three would lock down second spot.
Head coach Pierre Sage is preparing for the match without five players. Saud Abdulhamid, Mamadou Sangaré and Adrien Thomasson are suspended, while Florian Thauvin and Allan Saint-Maximin have been left out as a precaution because of minor issues.
There is some relief in the squad, though. Ruben Aguilar will be available after missing Wednesday’s group session, giving Sage one more option for a game that could settle Lens’s European fate.
The absences add to a roster already missing Jonathan Gradit, Kylian Antonio and Régis Gurtner, who remain unavailable. That leaves Lens short on bodies at the moment it can least afford it, but the equation is still simple: avoid defeat and direct Champions League qualification is theirs, with second place there for the taking if they go one better.
