With RC Lens set to face Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, La Voix des Sports sat down with Nampalys Mendy to discuss English football, where Newcastle United get a mention.
The Magpies are also in the competition, most recently drawing 1-1 away to Paris Saint-Germain in a highly controversial game.
Newcastle managed to beat the Ligue 1 side 4-1 in the home leg at St James’ Park, where they had the backing of the crowd to help them, and nearly managed to pull off a 1-0 win away were it not for a dubious handball call in the dying minutes of the game.
They will now have to try and beat AC Milan while hoping the French team fail to overcome Borussia Dortmund to stand a chance of qualifying, but will at least be doing so at home with their local crowd cheering them on.
For Nampalys Mendy, there are few better places to enjoy an English atmosphere than St James’ Park, as he revealed in his interview with the local newspaper.
Asked about which atmospheres had left a mark on him, he said: “Leicester is one of the best. Newcastle, it’s incredible: the stadium is massive, always full. What surprised me over there, the stadiums were always full. In France, it’s a bit rarer. It’s the case at Stade Bollaert, but not always.”
