The people of Lens are going to have a wonderful end-of-year celebration… but without a “trophy” under the tree. Victorious against OGC Nice on Sunday evening thanks to a double from Odsonne Édouard (2-0), RC Lens ensured to end the year 2025 in first place in the French Championship. A position which, generally, allows the club in question to win the title of fall champion. If it is the subject of a real trophy in Austria, the reward remains completely honorary in Ligue 1.
This tradition, based on the fact that a sporting season in France takes place over two calendar years, provides for rewarding the club in the lead at the end of the first leg. Except that for the 2025-2026 financial year, like last season, the 17th day, which marks the end of the first half of the championship, will take place on the weekend of January 2. The fall champion will therefore be known… at the start of winter.
With Lensois (37 points) still under threat from Paris Saint-Germain (36 points) in the standings, it is not possible to declare them fall champions for the moment.
One last success to be had against Toulouse
“The pseudo-title of autumn champion, now that we are so close to this winter break, we want to keep it,” declared northern full-back Mathieu Udol last week, decisive double assist against Nice. But hey, we still see much further than that and the longer we can stay in this place, the better it will be for us. We certainly weren’t expected there. We benefit from that, but there is no reason for it to be a burden for us. »
Pierre Sage’s men, who have 9 victories in their last 10 matches, could therefore be crowned honorarily on Friday January 2 in the event of success on the pitch in Toulouse. In the event of a setback, it is the Parisians who could win the title if they manage to win the next day in the capital derby at the Parc des Princes against Paris FC.
Since the arrival of QSI at the head of PSG in 2011, only three teams have managed to snatch the award from the capital club: Marseille (2014-2015), Nice (2016-2017) and Lyon (2020-2021). None of these clubs will have succeeded in winning Ligue 1 in the end: it remains to be seen whether the Lensois will manage to shake up the order of French football.
