Imagen
Kits for the UCL match against Lens
First team

WE WILL WEAR OUR THIRD KIT TO FACE LENS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

12/12/2023
Entradilla
Lens will wear their gold shirt, used to mark their return to the Champions League after a 20-year absence
Cuerpo Superior

We finish our Champions League campaign this Tuesday with an away match against Lens at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Lens cannot qualify for the Champions League Round of 16 either, meaning that this is a straight shootout for a spot in February's Europa League Round of 32. We will be wearing our blue and black third kit to face the French side, just like we did away against PSV and Arsenal. Our goalkeeper will be wearing yellow.

Lens' colours are red and yellow and are know as the sang et or, meaning blood and gold. Interestingly, these colours derive from the city's Spanish past, forming part of the Spanish Netherlands from 1526 until 1647 under the rule of Carlos I, Felipe II, Felipe III and Felipe IV. For their Champions League campaign, they have been using a gold home kit rather than their usual yellow strip. It is an adaptation of the home kit used in their historic 2002/03 UCL campaign, the last time they played in a Champions League.

To face us, they will be wearing that gold kit, with red shorts and socks, just like they did for the 2002/03 campaign. Despite not qualifying for the UCL knockout stage, they left their mark on the competition, drawing to Bayern Munich twice and beating Deportiva de la Coruña 3-1 and AC Milan 2-1. They finished the group in third place with eight points and qualified for the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup.