Lens (foto: Uradni Twitter profil kluba/zveze)
Lens defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 despite playing with ten men for almost an hour, with Florian Thauvin scoring the historic winner.
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Lens continues to write one of the most remarkable stories in French football. They defeated mighty Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 at Stade Bollaert-Delelis despite playing with ten men for almost an hour and lifted the French Super Cup for the first time in club history.
The hero of the evening was experienced Frenchman Florian Thauvin, who scored the only goal of the match in the 32nd minute.
It was also a memorable night for Croatian international Franjo Ivanović. He made his Lens debut and immediately celebrated his first trophy with the club.
Lens survive almost an hour with ten men
Only seven minutes after Thauvin's goal, the match took a dramatic turn.
Kevin Antonio was sent off in the 39th minute, leaving Lens with ten men and forcing coach Dino Toppmöller to completely change his approach.
Ivanović became the victim of the tactical adjustment. The Croatian remained in the dressing room at half-time, with Ruben Aguilar replacing him as Lens prepared to defend their narrow advantage.
PSG controlled the second half with an extra player and coach Luis Enrique increased the pressure by introducing Ousmane Dembélé, Nuno Mendes and Fabian Ruiz.
Still, Lens refused to break.
Ruiz finally found a way past excellent goalkeeper Robin Risser in the 76th minute, PSG's celebrations were cut short when the goal was disallowed for offside.
Lens survived the remaining minutes and completed one of the biggest victories in the club's recent history.
€187m Lens defeat PSG's €1.5bn squad
The financial difference between the two teams makes the result even more striking.
According to Transfermarkt valuations, Lens have a squad worth approximately €187 million, while PSG's collection of stars is valued at almost €1.5 billion.
None of that mattered at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
This was only Lens' second appearance in the French Super Cup. Their previous attempt came in 1998, when PSG defeated them 1-0.
This time, the roles were reversed.
The trophy continues an extraordinary period for Lens after they also won the first Coupe de France in their history last season. They also pushed PSG hard in the Ligue 1 title race before eventually finishing six points behind the champions.
Now Lens finally have their victory over the French giants, and they achieved it the hard way: with ten men against one of the most expensive teams in world football.