PSV awaits a crucial Champions League match against RC Lens on Tuesday evening. In France, the people of Eindhoven are hunting for the first victory in the main tournament of the billion dollar ball since December 8, 2015. Peter Bosz cannot rely on Noa Lang and Armel Bella-Kotchap for the important match.
Because PSV only managed to get one point from the first two group matches, they actually have to win Tuesday evening’s meeting with Lens to maintain their own control over the winter in the Champions League.
The Eindhoven team opened the group stage of the Champions League with a hopeless defeat at Arsenal (4-0) and then scored a point deep in injury time against Sevilla (2-2) thanks to Jordan Teze. Lens surprisingly leads Group B with 4 points thanks to a nice 2-1 home win over Arsenal and a draw against Sevilla (1-1).
Bosz was unable to call on Bella-Kotchap against Fortuna Sittard (3-1) on Saturday. After this game, the coach announced that the Champions League match would also come too early for the defender. In his view, André Ramalho is a logical replacement.
The Brazilian has already had to deal with a lot of criticism, but Bosz is not concerned about that. “I’m not worried about André. I am not reassured because he played a good match against Fortuna Sittard.”
“André is there, he is really a mentality player,” Bosz continued at the closing press conference on Saturday. “I haven’t known him for long, of course, but I think he is also growing in possession of the ball. That he goes along with the level that we usually bring to the mat when in possession of the ball. I’m certainly not worried about that.”
Hirving Lozano will start in Lens, just as he did against Fortuna Sittard, as a replacement for the injured Noa Lang. In addition, Rik Elfrink expects on behalf of it Algemeen Dagblad that Malik Tillman will start at number 10 on Tuesday. In that case, Guus Til will have to settle for a place on the bench again. Sergiño Dest, who started as a reserve on Saturday, will again be preferred to Patrick van Aanholt against Lens, according to Elfrink.
RC Lens
Lens is currently disappointingly fifteenth in Ligue 1 and seems to have come at the ideal time for Bosz’s team. Yet the trainer of the Eindhoven team was vigilant. “I know what they are capable of. They have lost two important players with Seko Fofana and Loïs Openda, although they have gained a good player in return with Elye Wahi. It remains a team with a lot of quality, which plays in a recognizable system. They have actually been using that system since they were promoted three years ago,” says Bosz.
Possible PSV line-up: Benítez; Teze, Ramalho, Boscagli, Dest; Schouten, Veerman Tillman; Bakayoko, De Jong, Lozano.