Pierre Sage, RC Lens coach, held a press conference Saturday evening after the 1-0 victory against Auxerre in the 18th round of Ligue 1. He was asked to discuss this win, which puts them back ahead of Paris Saint-Germain (who won against Lille on Friday). The coach’s comments on the race with PSG were rather unusual.
Sage: “When you aim for the moon, you sometimes land among the stars.”
“PSG borrowed our top spot, which belongs to us again for a weekend. Once PSG gets a shot off, we can’t afford to lose momentum. We can’t afford to be half-hearted in chasing them.
We’re not going to give up, because we could experience something exceptional. This record of ten wins will allow us, when we’re sitting by the fireside, to show books to our grandchildren and have stories to tell them. But it’s not a title.” We maintain this ambition to win. When you aim for the moon, you sometimes land among the stars.”, comments relayed by L’Equipe.
Between ambition, high standards, and philosophy, Sage is trying to guide his team toward a remarkable achievement. It’s possible; Lens are on a roll (8 consecutive Ligue 1 wins). But the coach also knows that the mission will be very difficult, especially since PSG have, in theory, done the hardest part physically. It will take a lot of hard work, confidence, humility, and perhaps a bit of luck to finish ahead.
Lens is on a good run of results, but they should be wary of a slightly less convincing performance yesterday against Auxerre. They will also need to manage any potential slip-ups, because winning every match until the end of the season will be very difficult. The title race is grueling. Lens has strengths, including a coach ready to find ways to motivate the squad. It remains to be seen if that will be enough against PSG.
