How young players, and those new to the club, should properly utilize every opportunity and every minute on the field is an example. Andrija Bulatović.
Although he played in the Meridianbet First Montenegrin Football League just over half a year ago, the young midfielder from "Falcon" immediately showed that he has the quality for the French Ligue 1, one of the strongest in the world.
This was obvious in the last months of 2025, and confirmation arrived on the second day of 2026. Bulatović found himself among the starters of Lens for the third time, playing 89 minutes and being among the best in the team that is the leader of the French championship.
The team from the north celebrated in the south against Toulouse (3:0), and the way the 19-year-old from Montenegro played was perhaps best described by the fans of the club from the "Bolears".
In the poll traditionally conducted by "Lansoa", a portal specializing in the red-yellow club, in which the player of the match is chosen, Bulatović was right behind Adrien Tomasson by number of votes - the former Buducnost footballer received almost 28 percent of the votes, and the captain slightly less than 36 percent.
He came in third place. Ismael Ganju, and on the fourth Vesli said (both 15,01). All of the aforementioned, except Bulatović, were also scorers, and that speaks volumes about how much the Montenegrin's performance thrilled the fans.
Technique, defense, attack...
It was the eighth match this season in which Bulatović got a chance.
As before, he stopped many of his opponents' attacks, made almost no mistakes with his passes, and showed his class when intercepting - he almost scored a Euro goal from a free kick from 40 meters, and from the penalty area line he forced the home team's goalkeeper to save the net with great difficulty.
- He was technically impeccable, just like in the defensive comeback, and he also stood out in the offensive. His bold lob that was barely blocked by the Toulouse goalkeeper “followed” the stands, while the second free kick deserved to end in the net. He also had a great breakthrough in the final of the match when he once again came close to shaking the net - writes “Lensoa”.
3
Andrija Bulatović has started the last four games for Lanz
Two starts in League 1 and one in the Cup - in both cases in the championship he got a chance from the first minute when he had to replace two players who are among the most important in the team.
- He proved his worth as a replacement for Tomason before the break, and he did it again after the holidays, this time replacing Mamadua Sangarea (The Mali midfielder is at the Africa Cup of Nations.) And again, everything was a real pleasure - adds the aforementioned portal.
Praise from the world champion too
The first star of Lance is Florian Tovan, a former French national team player and member of the golden team of the "tricolors" that conquered the planet in Russia in 2018. The world champion spoke with choice words about Bulatović.
- He is hardworking, humble, studies carefully and has quality. The fact that he shows the right level of play from game to game speaks volumes about him - Tovan told "L'Equipe".
And, just before the match with Toulouse, the famous French newspaper brought a nice story about the Montenegrin football player.
- Montenegrin discovery from Lens, a guy with almost military discipline, but also a boy who carries football from the schoolyard inside him - was the headline of "L'Equipa", which also emphasized in the text that Bulatović immediately adapted to Lens, and reminded that the footballer who recently turned 19 comes from the same part of Montenegro as Anto Drobnjak, the unforgettable striker of this team from the championship year of 1998.
Bonus video:
