Coupe de France: Linas-Montlhéry, Tom Thumb who has become a specialist

“Before PSG, we had never gone beyond the 6th round, that is to say the regional rounds!

Michaël Bertansetti, president of ESA Linas-Montlhéry, still can't believe it.

On Saturday January 7, at the Bondoufle stadium, its players will welcome RC Lens, the dolphin of PSG in L 1, for a third round of 32 in the space of four years.

A rare performance for a National 3 club, which had never experienced the intoxication of an epic in the Coupe de France.

“During the 2019-2020 season, when we come across PSG, explains the club boss, we were lucky in the draw and we had not challenged big teams.

At the time, we were playing in Regional 1 and we had faced La Flèche and Évreux, two teams of N 3. ” This gift, the Essonnians then experience it as a magical parenthesis in their daily lives.

“We were happy to face PSG.

It was an opportunity for us to party, it was almost no longer a football match.

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Despite their defeat (6-0), Stéphane Cabrelli's players had regretted not having performed feats in the previous rounds.

A feat that will not happen either in the next edition in 2020-2021 after a premature elimination (0-1) from the 6th round against the Lusitanos of Saint-Maur (N 2).

"We scored at the last second, it was incredible"

But everything changes, in 2021-2022.

Again, the Linois reached the 32nd final against SCO Angers (L 1).

And to get there, the Petit Poucet Ile-de-France had to play the movers.

The first victim is called Dunkirk, resident of Ligue 2, beaten on a regular basis (1-0).

“It was a particular context, recalls Bertansetti.

We scored at the last second by Tom Bouvil and the referee signaled the end of the game behind, it was incredible.

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Better, against the 6th of L 1 at the time, Linas-Montlhéry continues its momentum thanks to a double from its scorer, Pascal Leno.

“Against Angers, we were on cloud nine.

We quickly score two goals and we have the feeling that nothing can happen to us.

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Linas-Montlhéry thus climbed to the round of 16 for the first time in its history and came close to a new feat against Amiens (Ligue 2).

Led (0-3), the Essonniens come back from nowhere to snatch the penalty shootout.

“Our players were enormous, recalls Bertansetti.

We end the match with a mixture of pride and disappointment.

Going up three goals to lose was a bit tough.

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Against Lens, Michaël Bertansetti would sign immediately to reach the penalty shootout.

“It would be a huge feat to hang Lens.

We will bravely play our luck.

Especially since today, with our past exploits, we have accumulated experience.

It will no longer be the gala match that we had against PSG where the result did not matter… ”