5 things on new Lens manager Dino Toppmöller
Brought in to succeed Pierre Sage following a historic season for RC Lens, German coach Dino Toppmöller arrives with a solid reputation and clear strengths. Here's a look at the new Lens manager with Ligue 1 McDonald's.
Dino Toppmöller Speaks French
A 45-year-old German, Dino Toppmöller has the distinction of being fluent in French. The new Lens manager learned the language during his multi-year stint in Luxembourg with FC Dudelange, where he served first as a player (forward) and later as a coach.
Lens' First German Coach
While an Austrian (Anton Marek) became a club legend—with a stand at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis named after him—no German has yet made history with the Artois-based club. Dino Toppmöller thus becomes the first German manager to take charge of Lens. He is the ninth foreign coach in RC Lens's history, and only the third in the 21st century, following Will Still (2024/25) and Laszlo Bölöni (2011).
Bienvenue en France, Dino ! pic.twitter.com/klfNCWgz49
— Ligue 1 McDonald's (@Ligue1) June 16, 2026
An impressive track record already
Pierre Sage’s successor has already won titles—both as a head coach and as an assistant. During his stint as head coach at Dudelange, the son of Klaus Toppmöller—a Champions League finalist with Leverkusen in 2002—added three Luxembourg league titles (2017–2019) and two Luxembourg Cup and League Cup trophies to his resume.
He subsequently won the 2021/22 Bundesliga title alongside Julian Nagelsmann—the current head coach of the German national team—followed by the German Super Cup. However, his greatest achievement as a head coach remains the exceptional third-place finish he secured in the Bundesliga in the 2024/25 season.
Experience in European competitions
The Champions League will not be new territory for the German. He first competed in the tournament as an assistant at Bayern Munich—notably helping eliminate PSG in the Round of 16 in 2023, just days before the coaching staff was dismissed—and also reached the quarterfinals with the Bavarian club the previous season (2021/22).
During his previous spell as head coach at Frankfurt, he participated in European competitions three times, including one campaign in the Champions League. After the Conference League in 2023/24, Toppmöller reached the Europa League quarter-finals (where they were knocked out by Tottenham) and guided Eintracht through the group stage before his departure last January.
Prior to that, in the 2017/18 season, he had led Dudelange to the Europa League group stage. Although he did not achieve success there (one draw and five losses, this was after navigating the qualifiers with four wins in six matches)...
A coach who brings out the best in players
Under his guidance at Frankfurt, numerous players flourished, making breakthroughs that caught the eye of Europe’s biggest clubs. Having led Eintracht to a surprise third-place finish in the Bundesliga, Dino Toppmöller notably helped Hugo Ekitike—as well as Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush—break out on the European stage (with Ekitike scoring 15 goals in the 2024–25 season).
Both players were sold to the Premier League last summer. They were preceded by Willian Pacho, who was signed by PSG in the summer of 2024. The latest example is arguably former Angers player Jean-Mattéo Bahoya; he joined the German club in January 2024 and has gradually carved out a role for himself under the mentorship of Toppmöller—a coach who had previously nurtured rising talents at Leipzig and even worked with Jamal Musiala at Bayern.
