BEST GOAL
“It was a goal for PSG against Monaco,” the 47-year-old tells The Ligue 1 Show on beIN Sports. “The ball came back to me in the penalty area after a Monaco defender cleared it. I had my back to goal. I’m not sure why but I decided to try my luck with a bicycle kick and, well, the ball nestled just under the bar! It’s not common for a defender to try something like that, but sometimes accidents happen! That was the case that day!”

BEST MOMENT
“My greatest Ligue 1 memory was of course, with Lens, when the final whistle was blown at Auxerre in 1998. The game finished as a 1-1 draw, and that was enough to seal the title! For a football player, winning the French title is an indelible memory, especially when it’s your only title. With a club like Lens too, it’s truly something unforgettable.”

WORST MOMENT
“That was the season just before we won the title, a campaign we spent battling at the bottom of the table. Daniel Leclercq’s appointment, along with Roger Lemerre, was what saved the club from a dangerous situation. We flirted with relegation that made the year very difficult.”

BEST PLAYER
“Ronaldinho! When you’re lucky enough to have played alongside a player like him, for everything he represents and for what he could do on the pitch. He could turn a game in our favour at any given moment. He could win us a match of his own accord, so Ronaldinho, no doubt about it!”

TOUGHEST OPPONENT
“Pauleta, because Pedro was able to find space in such a way that a defender would think they had won the battle with him. But because he was so good in front of goal, so efficient, even when he barely touched the ball during a game. He was such a complex player to play against!”

BEST ATMOSPHERE
“Bollaert! Lens is a town of barely 30 000 inhabitants, but the stadium can fit in far more people than you can find within the town! When you are lucky enough to have won a title with the club, you go to the stadium at three in the morning and you find more than 30,000 present at that time, that can only create emotion and leave a mark on you, and even if I was lucky enough to witness other great stadiums and atmospheres - like at the Parc des Princes or at the Vélodrome - I simply can’t go with anything but Lens and the Stade Bollaert.”