Tuesday will ask Yannick Cahuzac to live two seasons at once: Lens’s new head coach is preparing for his first Champions League match in charge, while continuing the qualification course required to secure his future on the touchline.
A European debut before a return to the classroom
Lens host Sporting CP on Tuesday at 18:45, with Cahuzac taking charge of a Champions League fixture for the first time as a No. 1. The 41-year-old stepped up after Dino Toppmöller’s departure, despite having planned to devote much of the campaign to completing his Professional Football Coach Certificate, the BEPF.
His fifth training block had been due to begin at Clairefontaine on Monday evening and run until Thursday at 17:00. Instead, Cahuzac has been authorised to report on Wednesday morning, allowing him to remain with his squad for the Sporting visit.
He may still join parts of Tuesday’s course remotely, although this is optional rather than compulsory. The morning programme includes work on mental support and self-awareness, led by French Football Federation psychologist Chloé Leprince.
- Cahuzac will prepare Lens for Sporting CP on Tuesday afternoon and lead the side in the evening.
- He can connect to the BEPF sessions remotely when his match schedule permits.
- He is expected at Clairefontaine on Wednesday morning after the Champions League match.
- His coaching staff — Vincent Carlier, Bilal Hamdi and Eric Sikora — will help carry the preparation workload.
Cahuzac said the adjustment had to come from himself and the course organisers, while expressing confidence in the staff around him. Lens general manager Benjamin Parrot said the tutors had made sure the coach could approach the Sporting match in the best possible conditions.
Flexibility for Lens’s new head coach
The BEPF staff have opted for a flexible approach, with Cahuzac’s match preparation taking precedence. Jacky Bonnevay, one of the course supervisors, said there would be no pressure on the Lens coach to log in at a particular moment and that organisers would also avoid imposing travel arrangements likely to cut into his recovery after the game.
That makes Cahuzac the first male head coach to combine a Champions League assignment with the BEPF course in this way. Sandrine Soubeyrand faced a comparable situation while coaching Paris FC’s women during the 2023-24 season.
There have been recent examples of staff members studying remotely around European fixtures, but not involving a male first-team manager.
- Lilian Nalis did so during Lens’s 2023-24 European campaign.
- Julien Lachuer followed the course remotely during Brest’s European matchdays in 2024-25.
- Jérémie Bréchet, Bruno Genesio’s assistant, can leave Clairefontaine on Wednesday evening to join Marseille ahead of Thursday’s Europa League home game against Olympiakos.
Diploma still carries a domestic cost
Cahuzac has seven further short BEPF sessions to complete after this week, plus a week of immersion at a foreign club for his final dissertation.
The calendar may create another collision in February. A course session is scheduled in Toulouse from 16 to 18 February, dates that overlap with the first legs of the Champions League play-offs.
For now, Lens are paying for their coach’s unfinished qualification in Ligue 1. The club has been fined €25,000 for each domestic league match because Cahuzac does not yet hold the required diploma and has not spent 12 consecutive months at the club, a condition that could otherwise have allowed Racing to seek an exemption.
No such financial sanction applies in the Champions League. On Tuesday night, the only immediate test is Sporting — and Cahuzac’s first European evening as the man in charge.
