Correspondent in Saint-Etienne
There are the statistics, cold, relentless, and there is the feeling. In Saint-Etienne, neither of them allows us to approach with optimism going beyond the semi-final of the Coupe de France against the Stade Rennais on Thursday evening (8:55 pm). It has also fueled the conversations of the last few days than the derby lost in Lyon with its 22% possession of the ball in the first period. It is however the first that the Greens have played at home since 1993 and a setback (1-0) against FC Nantes, they who had not reached this stage of the competition for five years (elimination 4-1 at Paris). Is it possible to savor given the complicated situation in the league (16th)? "Of course, we all want to go to the Stade de France, we like the supporters," promises Mahdi Camara, present at a press conference on Wednesday.
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In 2020, ASSE clings to the branches with this Coupe de France, the tree that hides the forest. The Stéphanois, who benefited from mild draws even if they competed in all the previous rounds outside, rather fought to get rid of teams of lower ranks, except Monaco (1-0 in 8th), defeated to a era when the principality club floundered after changing coach: FC Bastia-Borgho (N1, 3-0) in 32nd, Paris FC (L2, 3-2) in 16th and SA spinalien (N2, 2-1) in quarters. The Green People dream of course to return to Saint-Denis, five years after having beaten there ... Stade Rennes in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue (1-0). However, he does not want to follow in the footsteps of Strasbourg and Lorient, respectively winners of the “Old Lady” in 2001 and 2002 but relegated to Ligue 2 in the process.
“Monter à Paris” will be a success against the title holder. "We will have to be actors, not in reaction," says Claude Puel. We will have to take advantage of the support of our supporters to make the start that we have to make and play at our best level, which we are able to do in sequence. Rennes is a competitive, complete team, but it depends above all on us, that my players can let go and make a full match. "Not easy against the 3rd in Ligue 1, which remains on six draws to Geoffroy-Guichard and precipitated the fall of ASSE in early December. While Loïs Diony opened the scoring, Damien da Silva had offered the Bretons three points in additional time (2-1).
A defeat that marked the end of the state of grace for Claude Puel. Before that, his men had taken ten points in the four league games following his appointment on October 4 to replace Ghislain Printant. With a dose of success, certainly, but this series had made it possible to erase the start of the missed season and to go up in the first quarter of the classification, more in line with the initial ambitions of a club which has the biggest budget of its history. The ace. What followed was chaotic. Beyond the individual cases (Timothée Kolodziejczak and Stéphane Ruffier dismissed in turn), the situation became more worrying over the defeats. Since the setback suffered at Roazhon Park, ASSE has conceded nine defeats for two victories and a draw in L1! During this period, she ranked 18th in the championship. Only Amiens and Toulouse did worse. "Rennes is a team that we have revived, I hope that it will revive us", wants to believe Claude Puel.
A stadium that will not fill up for a semi-final of the Coupe de France
If the general manager does not appear to be in danger since he arrived with extended powers to initiate a project over several years, this is the case of the club. Only two points separate it from Dijon and Nîmes, roadblocker. A situation that can be hidden for 90 minutes or more, as the reception for Bordeaux looms on Sunday? "This semi-final is not a match like the others, but a parenthesis, a breath of fresh air," said Mahdi Camara. We play at home, it's a big plus for us. Returning from suspension, the young midfielder will be the only reinforcement for his coach. He will have to continue to do without Loïc Perrin, Romain Hamouma, Wahbi Khazri and Arnaud Nordin, all injured.
At 24 hours of kick-off, the public still seems unenthusiastic. Besides, the Greens can only partially count on their twelfth man. The two kops are full, but we were touring around 30,000 seats on Wednesday, during school holidays and despite attractive prices. "Clearly, price is not the only lever," notes Xavier Thuilot, managing director, interviewed by the regional daily Le Progrès about the drop in attendance at the "Chaudron". The present however hope to review a victory for their team against Rennes, which has not happened since October 2012 (2-0, goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Renaud Cohade). After all, the qualification could give the players wings by intensifying the competition between now and the final, April 25 against Lyon or Paris. Only 11 of the 30 professionals in the workforce could indeed start this prestigious poster…
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