Sevilla vs Lens match facts

UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla kick off their fourth successive UEFA Champions League group campaign at home to Lens, who are appearing at this stage for the first time in 21 years.

Third in their section for the second year running in 2022/23, Sevilla went on to claim a record-extending seventh UEFA Cup/Europa League and are taking part in an 11th successive continental campaign; by contrast, this is Lens' first European game since October 2007.

This is the teams' first meeting.

Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven are also in Group B.

Form guide

Sevilla

Record vs French clubs: W4 D2 L5
At home vs French clubs: W3 D0 L2

This is the fourth time Sevilla have been paired with French opponents in their last six Champions League group appearances, most recently drawing 0-0 at Lens' local rivals LOSC Lille in 2021/22 before a 2-1 home defeat.

That latter result ended Sevilla's five-match unbeaten run against French clubs (W3 D2).

This is Sevilla's ninth appearance in the Champions League group stage, and a fourth in succession. The Spanish club have reached the round of 16 or better on five occasions, although their last two campaigns have ended in the group stage.

Sevilla won a record-extending seventh UEFA Cup/ Europa League in 2022/23, beating Roma 4-1 on penalties in the final at Budapest's Puskás Aréna following a 1-1 draw after extra time. The Andalusians had finished third in Champions League Group G on five points and moved into the Europa League knockout round play-offs. There they beat PSV Eindhoven (3-0 h, 0-2 a) before further victories against Fenerbahçe (2-0 h, 0-1 a), Manchester United (2-2 a, 3-0 h) and Juventus (1-1 a, 2-1 h aet).

Sevilla have won four more UEFA Cup/Europa Leagues than any other side – three-time champions Inter, Liverpool, Juventus and Atlético are their closest rivals.

Jesús Navas was named the 2022/23 Europa League Player of the Season.

Sevilla's best European Cup performances came in 1957/58 and 2017/18 when they reached the quarter-finals, losing to Real Madrid and Bayern München respectively.

The Andalusian club have managed only four victories in their last 13 home Champions League matches (D3 L6).

Sevilla have, however, won their last five home European games, scoring 13 goals and conceding only one.

José Luis Mendilibar's side lost 5-4 on penalties to Manchester City after a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Super Cup in Piraeus on 16 August. It was Sevilla's sixth Super Cup defeat, a competition record.

Sevilla finished 12th in La Liga last season and were knocked out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage. It was their lowest Liga finish since 1999/2000, when they were relegated in bottom place.

Lens

Record vs Spanish clubs: W4 D2 L1
Away vs Spanish clubs: W0 D2 L1

Lens' last three games against Spanish sides have all finished 3-1, a loss at Deportivo La Coruña in the 2002/03 Champions League first group stage that is their sole defeat against La Liga opponents before a home win by the same scoreline and, most recently, a home victory against Osasuna in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage.

Lens are returning to the Champions League group stage for the first time since making their second appearance in 2002/03 when, as on their 1998/99 debut, they failed to reach the knockout rounds.

Les Sang et Or were second behind Dynamo Kyiv in their Champions League group in 1998/99, picking up eight points including a notable victory at Arsenal (1-0). They also collected eight points in the first group stage four years later, finishing third in a section behind eventual champions AC Milan and Deportivo, who had lost 2-1 and 3-1 respectively at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

This is Lens' first European campaign since 2007/08 when, having qualified as one of the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners, they lost to Copenhagen in the UEFA Cup first round (1-1 h, 1-2 a aet).

Lens, who also won an Intertoto Cup in 2005, enjoyed their most successful European campaign in 1999/2000, reaching the UEFA Cup semi-finals before losing to Arsenal (0-1 a, 1-2 h).

The French club are without a win in 11 away European matches (D6 L5), since a 4-2 success at Polish side Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup first round.

Promoted back to the top flight in 2020 after five seasons in Ligue 2, in 2022/23 Franck Haise guided Lens to their highest league finish since ending as runners-up to Lyon in 2001/02, his side finishing second in Ligue 1 on 84 points – one behind Paris Saint-Germain.

Links and trivia

Loïc Badé made 31 Ligue 1 appearances for Lens in 2020/21, his sole season with the club before signing for Rennes.

Born in Sèvres in the suburbs of Paris, Badé spent time in the youth ranks at Antony Sports (2007–14), Boulogne-Billancourt (2014–15) and Paris FC (2015–17) before joining Le Havre. He made his senior debut in 2020 and went on to feature seven times in Ligue 2 before signing for Lens; he played 15 times in Ligue 1 for Rennes between 2021 and 2022.

Have also played in France:
Sergio Ramos (Paris Saint-Germain 2021–23)
Tanguy Nianzou (Paris Saint-Germain 2016–20)
Boubakary Soumaré (Paris Saint-Germain 2011–17, LOSC Lille 2017–21)
Lucas Ocampos (Monaco 2012–15, Marseille 2015–19)
Mariano Díaz (Lyon 2017–18)
Dodi Lukébakio (Toulouse 2016/17 loan)

Ramos scored six goals in 58 appearances in all competitions for Paris, winning two Ligue 1 titles. His record against Lens was W1 D1 L1, the win a 3-1 success in the most recent fixture, on 15 April.

Ocampos scored twice in Monaco's 6-0 home win against Lens in the Coupe de France quarter-finals on 26 March 2014.

Have played together:
Rafa Mir & Brice Samba (Nottingham Forest 2019/20)
Loïc Badé & Andy Diouf (Rennes 2021/22)
Boubakary Soumaré & Faitout Maouassa (France Under-21)
Boubakary Soumaré & Nampalys Mendy (Leicester 2021–23)

Lens left-back Maouassa was in the Rennes side that lost 3-1 at home to Sevilla in the Champions League group stage on 8 December 2020, Youssef En-Nesyri scoring twice for the Spanish side.

International team-mates:
Marcos Acuña, Lucas Ocampos & Facundo Medina (Argentina)
Loïc Badé, Tanguy Nianzou & Andy Diouf, Elye Wahi (France Under-21)

Acuña came on as a substitute during Argentina's win on penalties against France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final. He was an unused substitute during a 4-3 defeat by Les Bleus in the 2018 round of 16.

En-Nesyri's Morocco lost 2-0 to France in the 2022 World Cup semi-final.

Ivan Rakitić played 90 minutes as Croatia lost 4-2 to France in the 2018 World Cup final.

Latest news

Sevilla

Summer signings
In: Loïc Badé (Rennes, loan made permanent), Adrià Pedrosa (Espanyol), Djibril Sow (Eintracht Frankfurt), Federico Gattoni (San Lorenzo), Ørjan Nyland (Leipzig), Dodi Lukebakio (Hertha Berlin), Boubakary Soumaré (Leicester, loan), Mariano Díaz (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Paris)
Out: José Ángel Carmona (Getafe, loan), Karim Rekik (Al-Jazira), Rony Lopes (Braga, released), Iván Romero (Levante), Ludwig Augustinsson (Anderlecht, loan), Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal), Thomas Delaney (Anderlecht, loan), Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham Forest, loan), Papu Gómez (released), Oussama Idrissi (released), Óscar Rodríguez (Getafe, loan), Jesús Manuel Corona (Monterrey)

On Sunday Sevilla claimed their first win of the Liga season to climb off the bottom of the table, debutant Dodi Lukebakio coming off the bench to score the only goal in the second half.

Sevilla had been at the foot of La Liga after losing all their first three matches. The Andalusian side have now scored six goals and conceded eight.

Every defeat has come by a single-goal margin; 2-1 home reverses against Valencia and Girona and a 4-3 loss at Alavés.

Sevilla's scheduled league match at Atlético de Madrid on 3 September was called off due to storms and heavy rain in the Madrid area.

New goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland, who is still to make his Sevilla debut, played 90 minutes of Norway's 2-1 UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying win against Georgia on 12 September.

Tanguy Nianzou suffered an injury to his left hamstring in training on 5 August and has not played since.

Marcão has not played since last season's UEFA Europa League final due to a ruptured thigh muscle.

Marcos Acuña has been out since suffering a thigh injury in a 4-3 defeat at Alavés on 21 August.

Jesús Navas has recovered from a hip injury that kept him out for two weeks.

Navas finished 11th in the UEFA Player of the Year voting with six points.

José Luis Mendilibar was seventh in the UEFA Coach of the Year vote. The Sevilla coach scored 28 points, 17 more than Lens counterpart Franck Haise, who finished 11th.

In addition to Player of the Season Navas, Bounou (now at Al-Hilal), Acuña and Ivan Rakitić were also included in the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season.

On 4 September Sevilla announced the signing of Ramos, who returned to his first club 18 years after leaving. Ramos first joined Sevilla when he was just seven years old, and made his first-team debut on 1 February 2004. In his first spell with Sevilla, Ramos made 49 appearances, scoring three goals, before departing for Real Madrid in August 2005. He has signed a one-year contract.

Ramos made his second Sevilla debut on Sunday, 18 years and 20 days after his last appearance for the club, against Racing Club on 28 August 2005.

Bounou is one of the 30 nominees for the Ballon d'Or, the winner of which will be announced in Paris on 30 October.

Lens

Summer signings
In: Andy Diouf (Basel), Angelo Fulgini (Mainz, loan made permanent), Morgan Guilavogui (Paris FC), Neil El Aynaoui (Nancy), Stijn Spierings (Toulouse), Abdukodir Khusanov (BGU Minsk), Oscar Cortés (Millonarios), Elye Wahi (Montpellier), Ruben Aguilar (Monaco), Faitout Maouassa (Club Brugge, loan), Nampalys Mendy (Leicester)
Out: Ismaël Boura (Troyes), Tom Ducrocq (Bastia), Steven Fortes (released), Adrien Louveau (released), Rémy Labeau Lascary (Laval, loan), Loïs Openda (Leipzig), Adam Buksa (Antalyaspor, loan), Seko Fofana (Al-Nassr), Jean Onana (Beşiktaş), Alexis Claude-Maurice (Nice), Yacouba Barry (Annecy), Mamadou Camara (Nancy, loan), Łukasz Poręba (Hamburg, loan), Julien Le Cardinal (Brest, loan)

Lens have lost four of their first five Ligue 1 fixtures this season, drawing the other 1-1 at home to Rennes on 20 August. They went down 1-0 at home to Metz on Saturday to make it three successive league defeats for the first time since May 2021.

One point from five games represents Lens' worst start to a Ligue 1 campaign. They are 18th after five games; they were second with 13 points at the same stage last season.

Abdukodir Khusanov and Ruben Aguilar made their Lens debuts on Saturday, the former the first player from Uzbekistan to appear in Ligue 1.

Summer signing Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal for the club away to Paris Saint-Germain on 26 August, an added-time consolation in a 3-1 defeat.

Colombian defender Deiver Machado scored in each of Lens' first two Ligue 1 fixtures, a 3-2 defeat at Brest on 13 August and the draw against Rennes the following week.

Elye Wahi scored twice in France Under-21's 4-1 friendly win over Denmark on 7 September.

Brice Samba has been nominated for the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper, while new signing Wahi has been nominated for the Kopa Trophy for the best Under-21 player. Both winners will be announced in Paris on 30 October.

Przemyslaw Frankowski missed Lens' 3-0 loss at Monaco on 2 September with a groin injury, returning as a substitute on Saturday.

Massadio Haïdara has been out since suffering a groin injury in that loss at Monaco.

David Costa has not played since 26 August due to a shoulder injury.

Goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez and midfielder Jimmy Cabot have not featured this season due to knee injuries; neither has been included in the UEFA Champions League squad.