Two goals in four minutes
At the 88th minute in Prague, Lens were losing 2-1 and looking at a bad night. They left Czechia with three points.
Florian Thauvin headed in a Mezian Mesloub cross on 90 minutes. Ruben Aguilar drilled the winner in the 93rd. A 3-2 win in their Champions League opener, rescued from nowhere.
Lens needed luck to get there. Slavia set the terms from the opening whistle with a direct, vertical approach, and Sturm almost scored inside 23 seconds. The Slovenian did score twice, on 51 and 88 minutes. Goalkeeper Risser spent the night sprinting off his line to keep the damage down.
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A defence born in 2005 or later
Dino Toppmoller picked a back three entirely produced at La Gaillette: Antonio, Ganiou and Sagnan. Opta records Lens as the first club ever to start a Champions League match with three defenders born from 2005 onwards.
The recruitment has shifted too. Lens spent €27m this summer, against €64m for their previous Champions League campaign in 2023. Two of the new arrivals, Titraoui and Nawrocki, missed the trip through injury.
Sima had levelled on 74 minutes, some way after letting a Skoras cross slide through his legs on the half-hour. Slavia played the last 40 minutes a man short, Konecny sent off on 49 for a foul on Sima as the last defender. Lens still could not make it count, with Sturm restoring the lead two minutes later.
A first real measure of this side
The result follows two straight Ligue 1 defeats, to Strasbourg (1-2) and Lorient (0-1). Runners-up behind PSG and Coupe de France winners, Lens are in the Champions League for the fourth time.
The clubs had met once before, in the 1995 UEFA Cup. That finished 1-1. This one did not.
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