- 1 RC Lens vs PSG: the European champions kick off their season at Bollaert
- 2 A work in progress for RC Lens under Toppmoller
- 3 PSG, a machine that still needs careful handling
- 4 Champions Trophy prediction RC Lens vs PSG
- 5 First, a word on our free picks
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the visuals…
RC Lens vs PSG: the European champions kick off their season at Bollaert 
The 2026 Champions Trophy brings together the two best French clubs from last season, RC Lens and Paris Saint-Germain, on Sunday 16 August at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
Paris comes into it with two tags on its back: French champions for the 14th time and Champions League winners after beating Arsenal.
Lens earned its place by winning the Coupe de France, lifting the trophy at Nice’s expense. The schedule is no joke for Paris either, with the European Super Cup and this Champions Trophy coming in a matter of days.
Luis Enrique, heading into his fourth season in charge in Paris, approaches this one with squad management very much on his mind.
Lens, meanwhile, begins a new era under Dino Toppmoller, who arrived in summer 2026 from Eintracht Frankfurt after Pierre Sage left for Crystal Palace.
So this is a meeting between a side that knows all about the big European nights and a northern club still trying to settle into a new tactical identity.
A work in progress for RC Lens under Toppmoller 
Lens finished last season in second place in Ligue 1, a consistency that came before its Coupe de France triumph. That runner-up finish confirmed a strong campaign, but the club heads into 2026-27 with a new game plan to bed in.
The coaching change has shaken up the usual patterns, with Dino Toppmoller imposing his ideas after the Pierre Sage cycle. Preseason has offered a few encouraging signs, including a comfortable 4-1 friendly win over US Boulogne.
Florian Thauvin is in decent nick, with the winger scoring in his last two outings.
Odsonne Edouard and Abdallah Sima have also found the net lately, a sign the attack is starting to click ahead of the Bollaert date.
Still, the jump in class is obvious. Doing it against PSG is a very different beast from preseason opposition.
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PSG, a machine that still needs careful handling 
Paris Saint-Germain arrives as reigning European champion, and that says plenty on its own.
The Champions League triumph over Arsenal underlined Parisian dominance on the continent. The summer build-up took the club to Mallorca on 5 August and then to Manchester United on 8 August.
Luis Enrique has his full squad available for this Champions Trophy, the first time that has happened in weeks. Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola, the two main attacking threats, are fit, as is captain Marquinhos.
The real catch is the calendar, with two finals in four days forcing the staff to protect tired legs.
That likely rotation is the only serious unknown in a contest that still tilts heavily in Paris’s favour.
Champions Trophy prediction RC Lens vs PSG
PSG win (90 mins)
The one-on-one battle across the pitch leans clearly toward Paris, and not even rotation is likely to close that gap for Lens.
A Paris bench strengthened by a full squad still looks a level above a Lens side that is very much a work in progress, which points firmly to a PSG win.
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Information changes
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