Ligue 1 Review | Jérémy Doku shows how tricky a French title charge is, even as PSG fail
Yet to win, or score from open play, PSG confirmed their status as vulnerable champions via a 1-1 draw at Toulouse this weekend. However, if a title race is to coalesce, at least one challenger must emerge, and Sunday night’s prime-time game between Lens and Rennes tested the credentials of two hopeful pretenders. But the ensuing draw only exposed weaknesses in both rather than breed confidence for either.
Lens finished just a point behind PSG last season, their tally of 84 surpassing Lille’s title-winning haul of 2021. However, their ruthless, efficient, impermeable persona was worryingly absent in a 3-2 opening-day defeat to Brest. It would be easy to conclude that the marauding Seko Fofana, whose energy and talent allowed him to play as midfield destroyer, dynamo, and creator all at once, was even more crucial to Franck Haise’s team than assumed.
Fofana departed for Saudi Arabia this summer. A crushingly unromantic decision, given the love Lens’ boisterous fans had for their captain and the Champions League adventure to come, but an understandable one given the mammoth contract on offer. While the exit of Loïs Openda to Leipzig and Kevin Denso’s proposed move to Napoli would be concerning, both players are replaceable. The Chelsea-linked Elye Wahi, who was presented at the Stade Bollaert last night after arriving from Montpellier, is arguably an upgrade on the streaky Belgian striker, for example.
Fofana’s leadership and talent, however, are virtually irreplaceable for a club like Lens. The new 20-year-old signing from Rennes, Andy Diouf, is the ordained successor after a productive year on loan with Basel. Nevertheless, despite his clear raw ability, the gap in effectiveness between the lightning-rod presence of Fofana
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