Slavia Praguevs
LensFor 88 minutes, Slavia Prague were doing something genuinely remarkable. Down to ten men, outpossessed two-to-one, and staring at a group-stage loss that would have continued a miserable run of form — they led. Then Lens remembered who they were.
Two goals in the final three minutes of added time, from Florian Thauvin and Ruben Aguilar, turned what looked like a famous Slavia hold into a 3-2 away win for the French side. Our pre-match read called this one too close to split, and for most of the night it looked exactly that way — until Lens settled it in the most brutal fashion possible.
Ten Men, One Man
The match turned on its head almost before it had a chance to breathe. In the 49th minute, Slavia's Mikulás Konecny was sent off, leaving the hosts to navigate the rest of the game a man short against a Lens side that had been bossing possession since the opening whistle.
Two minutes later, Slavia scored. Cabal, that is the kind of football that makes this competition special. Danijel Sturm converted with Samuel Isife picking up the assist, and suddenly Eden Arena had a match on its hands. A ten-man side, at home, against a team that would finish the game with 26 shots and 62.7% of the ball — and Slavia were in front.
Lens pushed. They had the numbers and the space to exploit them, and on 73 minutes Abdallah Sima found the equalizer. No assist recorded, just a moment of individual quality that leveled things and seemed to put the match back where logic said it should be.
Sturm's Night, Lens's Win
But Sturm wasn't done. With two minutes left in regulation, he got his second — no assist this time either, just a striker doing what strikers do when they're locked in — and Slavia were ahead again. El coraje de ese equipo, playing the final forty minutes shorthanded and still finding a way to the front.
Lens had 88 minutes of data telling them this wasn't going their way. They responded with two goals in three minutes of added time. Thauvin headed home from a Mezian Soares delivery in the 90th+1, and before Slavia could reset, Aguilar struck in the 90th+3 to seal it.
The numbers tell the fuller story of Lens's dominance: 441 passes to Slavia's 264, 26 shots to 18, nine corners to six. Slavia's five shots on target and three saves from the Lens goalkeeper were the only things keeping them in it for as long as they were.
Verdict
Slavia will feel the sting of this one for a while. Their form coming in — five losses in their last five — made this a tough ask, and for long stretches they looked like a side that had genuinely turned something around. Sturm's brace was the kind of performance that deserved a different result.
For Lens, three consecutive wins now, and a road win in the Champions League that they'll look back on as a test of character. The question now is whether they can carry that same composure into matches where they don't need a 90th-minute rescue.
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