Saint-Etienne-Bordeaux.
A shock.
Of old times.
From the top of this meeting, you contemplate ten championship titles for the Greens who will play their 2,500th match in the top flight on Saturday and six coronations for the Girondins (2,511 matches on the clock).
Only Marseille, with its 2,570 matches played, has more.
But now, since their last trophies won in 2013 - Coupe de la Ligue for the Stéphanois, Coupe de France for the Bordelais - the two clubs linked by a strong intra-supporter friendship are living the roller coaster with an almost irremediable decline and the prospects of more and more uncertain.
"
It's the reality of the moment, it's the whole context that wants that,
" the Girondin midfielder Yacine Adli summed it up.
To discover
Ligue 1 fixtures and results
League 1 standings
Saint-Etienne: Pending the sale
ASSE (19th), in the hands of a pair made up of Bernard Caïazzo and Roland Romeyer not always on the same wavelength, seems to lose its soul and its identity over the months. His finances in the worst possible way, there was no new blood during the transfer window as his general manager Claude Puel had warned - only the Uruguayan striker Ignacio Ramirez was loaned without an option to buy - nor the departure of the big salaries of the club (Ryad Boudebouz, Wahbi Khazri ...) which necessarily burden its sports policy. On the side of the Etrat training center, many are hoping for a redemption by Christmas, followed by a winter transfer market finally active likely to strengthen a workforce composed mainly of young people to develop (Saïdou Sow, Lucas Gourna,Mahdi Camara) and "
old grumblers
»To be re-motivated, with the management of the African Cup of Nations in early 2022 not to be underestimated (8 players could be concerned).
Despite the advent of Etienne Green the aptly named in goals, the whole started the season with three draws (Lorient, Lens, Lille), before two defeats in Marseille (1-3) and Montpellier (0-2) where Puel spoke of "a
mess
", regretting "
a lack of character and a tendency to lose track so easily
".
The arrival of Bordeaux, less well off in points, should serve as a trigger for the Greens who, behind, will follow with a trip to Monaco then the receptions of Nice and Lyon.
Bordeaux: Reconstruction mission
Opposite, Bordeaux (20th), under the American flag for two and a half years, passed on July 23 in the hands of Gérard Lopez, controversial linchpin of the recent Lille title and seen as a savior in Gironde. In barely two months, the Hispano-Luxembourgish businessman struggled to avoid administrative relegation, convince the DNCG, the financial policeman of the League, of his project and his resources, and try to oxygenate a psychologically marked group. As a therapist, he was able to attract Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic, from whom he asked for the Top 10 at the end of the season. For this, he provided him with low-cost players, from very diverse backgrounds (13 nationalities in total in the workforce), but not the appropriate center-forward sought (the Rennais M 'Baye Niang was targeted in recent days). "
We need a little time to find the automatisms
”, explained Petkovic after the setback against Lens (2-3) for the mayonnaise to take and for the old demons to disappear, especially at Matmut Atlantique where the Girondins often have an open house. (only 11 wins in the last 35 matches). With two small points in the bag, already 12 goals conceded including some on gross individual errors, the start of the year is not very encouraging even if some will see in the scoring (from 0-2 to 2-2) to Marseille and against Lens, despite the cruel defeat in the end, a form of character and an ounce of optimism in this umpteenth transition season.
