Expert insight from France 

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Ligue 1 has become something of a monopoly since the Qatar Sports Investments group bought a majority stake in Paris Saint-Germain in 2011. This effectively saw PSG being run by the Qatari state and its incredible riches. Huge transfer fees followed the takeover, with the Paris-based club boasting each of the two most expensive transfers of all-time: Neymar from Barcelona for €222 million and Kylian Mbappé from Monaco for €180m. This spending has also led to PSG winning 11 of the last 13 titles.

However, at the half way stage of this campaign, the current Champions League holders are actually not top of the tree. Cue this season’s incredible story of RC Lens. The northern-French based side have a squad market value of just €115m – that’s less than a tenth of PSG’s €1.19 billion. In fact, Pierre Sage’s side don’t have a single player currently valued over €15m. They also lost their manager Will Still to Southampton in the summer. Yet, after 17 games, Les Sang et Or (The Blood and Gold) have taken 40 points and are one point ahead of PSG and eight points clear of third-placed Marseille. With expert insight from France, we bring you more on Ligue 1’s surprise package this season.

Why have Lens been so successful this season?

Ronan Caroff is Transfermarkt’s Area Manager in France, and has been following Lens’ journey closely for sometime. He is not the only one to have been somewhat astounded by their meteoric rise. “There’s a decent amount of surprise, though we have known since Lens’ first season back after promotion that this is a club with great potential,” Caroff explained. “After a frustrating 24/25 season, which saw a premature exit from the Conference League and an average performance in Ligue 1 (eighth place finish), Lens went for a ‘clean slate’ strategy in the summer. There has been a change of coach and Sporting Director, the selling or loaning of most of the summer 2024 arrivals, whilst Lens have been more active in the market themselves, spending more than double the fees from the previous season.”

Lens spent €56m on transfers in the summer, adding some younger stars to their roster. “The team is very well balanced,” says Caroff. “It has a great mix of players, with young but stronger prospects and more experienced stars. Looking back, the summer transfers promised a decent revival of the team, but not to the point of leading the Ligue 1 table at the halfway stage.” Asked what the expectations were at the start of the season, Caroff revealed: “A massive wave of change in one summer was a double edged sword, either the team would begin a revival or could fall deeper into crisis. With rather late arrivals in August, when the league had already kicked off, nobody could have expected such a great and fast impact. Even the most optimistic observers would stay cautious at the start of the season, aiming for simply better than eighth.”

Speaking to L’Equipe back in early July, club president Joseph Oughourlian said “Lens is the team that occasionally challenges the big clubs. At one point, we saw ourselves as a little better than we really were. Our DNA is to be a solid, well-established club with a strong identity, which consistently plays in Ligue 1. We won’t compete in Europe every year, but we’ll give even the biggest teams a run for their money”. That cautious approach to the season was perhaps for the best as Lens didn’t appear to be under a lot of overall pressure this season so far, and in that environment they have thrived.

How impressive is manager Pierre Sage?

Lens is Sage’s second job in Ligue 1 having been sacked by Lyon last January. In a recent interview with L’Equipe, a humble Sage said: “For me, a good coach is one who manages to optimise the available resources, while guiding towards a vision he shares with the players regarding how to play. I like to have possession, I like to dictate the game. And these are things that suit this squad. I simply have ideas, convictions, and a legacy from my predecessors that I’ve been able to build upon.” So far, Sage has taken a mightily impressive 2.42 points-per-game from his first 19 matches as Lens boss. Only three managers (Vincent Kompany, Mikel Arteta and Hansi Flick) have a better record in Europe’s top-five leagues.

“He has a wonderful success story!” exclaims Caroff. “Pushed under the spotlight by John Textor to handle a Lyon side in difficult circumstances, he quickly made a name for himself, which is usually almost impossible for a coach without a playing career. Lyon had to pay over €500k of fines because Sage didn’t have the necessary coaching badges at the time. His exit from Lyon was harsh for someone who had averaged 1.93 points-per-game, but in Lens he found a more stable place to work, and we have seen that’s just what he needed to shine again.

“At Lyon his tactics were quite versatile. At Lens he seems to have settled more for a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3 system, which has worked well. Danger comes from everywhere in Lens’ front-line, and assists come from all over the pitch including the full-backs. Their defence is also super solid, with only 14 goals conceded in 19 games in the league and cup combined. The best defensive record in France.” So whilst Sage clearly deserves a lot of credit for Lens’ position, who are the star players leading this unlikely title challenge?

Who are the star players at Lens?

“The great story is of course that of Florian Thauvin,” explains Caroff. “Seeing as though Tigres (2021-23) and Udinese (2023-25) were his two previous clubs, it didn’t seem a very bright path for the 2018 World Champion, who was still in his later prime years. But now with Lens and soon turning 33 years old, he really has found a perfect environment to thrive. This has culminated in an improbable comeback to the French national team, where he hadn’t played between June 2019 and October 2025. And on his comeback game, he scored!”

Besides Thauvin, the squad’s most valuable players are certainly worth a look says Caroff: “Mamadou Sangaré, 23, amazes in the midfield. He is already attracting Premier League teams after just half a season. Fellow Austrian Bundesliga signing Samson Baidoo, 21, in defence has also proved to be an astute piece of business. It’s their strongest area, with only 14 goals conceded, also helped by the experience of Malang Sarr, who was forgotten by Chelsea a couple of years ago, and the promise of goalkeeper Robin Risser, 21, who is doing great for someone only in his first Ligue 1 season.”

Can Lens genuinely win Ligue 1?

So it’s all very well leading the table in January, but could Lens actually do the unthinkable and beat the European Champions to the Ligue 1 title? “If we let statistics speak, they would say no,” admits Caroff despondently. “Since Qatar bought PSG in 2011, there’s a clear theme. If PSG are leading at the halfway point, they are crowned champions at the end. But if someone else is the ‘half way champion’, that team doesn’t usually hold on until the end. Marseille (14/15, finished 4th), Nice (16/17, finished 3rd), and Lyon (20/21, finished 4th) all dropped off. It doesn’t bode great for Lens.

“Three losses, including one vs the current relegation-zone member Metz, is frustrating, as Lens could have an even bigger gap to PSG. Now that the title holders are out of the Coupe de France, they can also be a bit more focused on the title race. However, their season is far less inspiring than last term, with already more losses than the whole of the last campaign. A one-point margin isn’t enough to dare make bets on the final winner being anyone other than PSG, but there is some hope. Lens’s Stade Bollaert-Delelis stadium has been sold out for more than four years straight now, and they are unbeaten at home since August. If they did win it, it would make this season truly special, and they can dream of a second Ligue 1 title in their history, after winning it in 1997/98.”