2006–07 RC Lens season

The 2006–07 season was the 101st season in the existence of RC Lens and the club's 16th consecutive season in the top-flight of French football. In addition to the domestic league, Lens participated in this season's editions of the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue and UEFA Cup.^{[citation needed]}

Lens

2006–07 season
Tifo Lensois during match Lens-Parma in the UEFA Cup
President	Gervais Martel
Head coach	Francis Gillot
Stadium	Stade Félix-Bollaert
Ligue 1	5th
Coupe de France	Quarter-finals
Coupe de la Ligue	Round of 16
UEFA Cup	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: Aruna Dindane Seydou Keita (11) All: Aruna Dindane (16)
Average home league attendance	34,363[1]
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

Season summary

Lens finished fifth, one point away from Champions League qualification. Francis Gillot subsequently resigned as manager, but remained with the club as a scout.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^{[2][citation needed]}

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FRA Sébastien Chabbert 2 DF  POR Marco Ramos[notes 1] 3 DF  BRA Hilton 4 DF  MLI Adama Coulibaly 5 DF  FRA Nicolas Gillet 6 DF  FRA Patrick Barul 7 MF  FRA Razak Boukari[notes 2] 8 MF  MLI Seydou Keita 9 FW  GAB Daniel Cousin 10 MF  FRA Eric Carrière 14 MF  FRA Kévin Monnet-Paquet 15 MF  MAR Mounir Diane 16 GK  FRA Arnaud Brocard

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  FRA Olivier Monterrubio 20 MF  FRA Adil Hermach[notes 3] 21 MF  MLI Sidi Yaya Keita 22 FW  TUN Issam Jemâa 23 MF  SRB Nenad Kovačević 25 DF  SRB Milan Biševac[notes 4] 26 DF  FRA Yohan Demont 27 FW  CIV Aruna Dindane 28 DF  FRA Damien Tixier 29 DF  GUF Lesly Malouda 30 GK  FRA Charles Itandje[notes 5] — MF  FRA Mohamed Diamé[notes 6]

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 11 FW  BRA Jussiê (on loan to Bordeaux) 13 MF  FRA Jonathan Lacourt (on loan to Troyes) 18 MF  FRA Olivier Thomert[notes 7] (to Rennes) 19 DF  GUI Kamil Zayatte (to Young Boys)

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  FRA Alou Diarra (to Lyon) 24 DF  FRA Grégory Vignal (on loan to Kaiserslautern) 31 MF  GUI Simon Feindouno (on loan to Istres) 33 MF  FRA Adel Taarabt[notes 8] (on loan to Tottenham Hotspur)

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Ligue 1	5 August 2006	26 May 2007	Matchday 1	5th	38	15	12	11	47	41	+6	039.47
Coupe de France	6 January 2007	28 February 2007	Round of 64	Quarter-finals	4	2	1	1	10	6	+4	050.00
Coupe de la Ligue	20 September 2006	24 October 2006	Third round	Round of 16	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1	050.00
UEFA Cup	14 September 2006	14 March 2007	First round	Round of 16	10	4	3	3	13	11	+2	040.00
Total					54	22	16	16	75	62	+13	040.74

Source: Competitions

Ligue 1

Main article: 2006–07 Ligue 1

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Toulouse	38	17	7	14	44	43	+1	58	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
4	Rennes	38	14	15	9	38	30	+8	57	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
5	Lens	38	15	12	11	47	41	+6	57	Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round
6	Bordeaux	38	16	9	13	39	35	+4	57	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round[a]
7	Sochaux	38	15	12	11	46	48	−2	57

Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Bordeaux, the winner of the Coupe de la Ligue, is awarded entry to the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. The winners of the Coupe de France, Sochaux also have been awarded entry to the 2007–08 UEFA Cup.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	15	12	11	47	41	+6	57	9	8	2	28	16	+12	6	4	9	19	25	−6

Source: Ligue 1

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	L	D	D	W	W	D	W	D	W	W	L	W	D	L	D	W	W	D	D	W	D	L	L	L	D	W	L	W	L	D	L
Position	6	10	12	14	11	7	3	6	7	7	5	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	2	3	3	5

Source: Ligue 1
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

UEFA Cup

Main article: 2006–07 UEFA Cup

First round

Ethnikos Achna v Lens

14 September 2006 First leg	Ethnikos Achna	0–0	Lens	Nicosia, Cyprus
18:00 (CET)	Blanco  17' Belić  64' Iordache  87'	Report	Barul  60' Si.Keita  61'  72'	Stadium: GSP Stadium Referee: Domenico Messina (Italy)

Lens v Ethnikos Achna

28 September 2006 Second leg	Lens	3–1 (3–1 agg.)	Ethnikos Achna	Lens, France
18:00 (CET)	Dindane 11' Gillet  33' Jemâa 63' Cousin 64'	Report	Belić 71'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Referee: Lucílio Batista (Portugal)

Group stage

Main article: 2006–07 UEFA Cup group stage § Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Parma	4	3	0	1	6	6	0	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Osasuna	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3	7
3	Lens	4	1	1	2	5	5	0	4
4	Odense	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4
5	Heerenveen	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Lens v Osasuna

2 November 2006 1	Lens	3–1	Osasuna	Lens, France
20:00 (CET)	Dindane 14' Se.Keita  41' Barul  61' Cousin 73' (pen.) Gillet  85' Boukari 87'	Report	Izquierdo  16' Javier Flaño  32' Valdo  49' Soldado  55' Corrales  59' Delporte  70'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 33,950 Referee: Gerald Lehner (Austria)

Odense v Lens

23 November 2006 2	Odense	1–1	Lens	Odense, Denmark
20:45 (CET)	Ophaug  44' Bechara  45' Grahn 58'	Report	Si.Keita  29' Jemâa 87'	Stadium: Fionia Park Attendance: 7,700 Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)

Lens v Parma

29 November 2006 3	Lens	1–2	Parma	Lens, France
20:45 (CET)	Cousin 20'	Report	Castellini  52' Ferronetti  54' Rossi  65' Dedič 77',  77' Budan  85' Paponi 90+1'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 32,350 Referee: Stuart Dougal (Scotland)

Heerenveen v Lens

14 December 2006 4	Heerenveen	1–0	Lens	Heerenveen, Netherlands
20:45 (CET)	Alves  39', 90+3' Friend  77'	Report	Hilton  61' Ramos  89'	Stadium: Abe Lenstra Stadion Attendance: 17,000 Referee: Costas Kapitanis (Cyprus)

Round of 32

Lens v Panathinaikos

15 February 2007 First leg	Lens	3–1	Panathinaikos	Lens, France
20:45 (CET)	Se.Keita  32' Dindane  38' Jemâa 50' Demont  68' Jemâa 71' Dindane 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Romero  20' Salpingidis 66' Mantzios  68'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 29,950 Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

Panathinaikos v Lens

22 February 2007 Second leg	Panathinaikos	0–0 (1–3 agg.)	Lens	Athens, Greece
20:45 (CET)	Ivanschitz  22' Morris  78'	Report	Hilton  18'	Stadium: Olympic Stadium Attendance: 40,914 Referee: Jaroslav Jára (Czech Republic)

Round of 16

Lens v Bayer Leverkusen

8 March 2007 First leg	Lens	2–1	Bayer Leverkusen	Lens, France
19:00 (CET)	Monterrubio 17' Si.Keita  65' Demont  65' Cousin 70' (pen.)	Report	Haggui 51',  15'  69' Castro  34' Barnetta  77'	Stadium: Stade Félix-Bollaert Attendance: 29,200 Referee: Howard Webb (England)

Bayer Leverkusen v Lens

14 March 2007 Second leg	Bayer Leverkusen	3–0 (4–2 agg.)	Lens	Leverkusen, Germany
18:15 (CET)	Voronin 36',  59' Barbarez 56' Juan 71' Castro  85' Callsen-Bracker  87'	Report	Itandje  9' Demont  44' Se.Keita  52' Dindane  85'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 22,500 Referee: Olegário Benquerença (Portugal)