What if the Gym was ruining its season in August?
Defeated in Tel Aviv in the Europa League Conference play-off, the Niçois can lose everything in a few weeks. Four days before the return match, Lucien Favre had rotated for this trip to Clermont. Delort and Atal start on the bench, Daniliuc and Brahimi are tenured.
Load at Amine Gouri to lead the attack. A choice that could have paid off from the 2nd minute when the International Espoir touches the amount of Mory Diaw.
As since the start of the season, we feel that success continues to flee the Azureans. 4 minutes later, Saif-Eddine Khaoui leaves Kasper Schmeichel unmoved. His soft but placed strike hit the mark, 1-0 for Clermont Foot.
From then on, the people of Nice fall into their traps. A crying lack of desire and initiative, amorphous players. Admittedly, the returns of Andy Delort and Youcef Atal bring an undeniable more offensive.
But it is a team plagued by doubts that played this Sunday. The proof, two sure values of the formation of Lucien Favre lose the pedals : Mario Lemina sent off directly for a tackle from behind, both feet unstuck (79th) and second yellow card collected by Jean-Clair Todibo for a gesture of frustration (82′).
The people of Nice have hit rock bottom in Clermont and they don’t have time to feel sorry for themselves. From Thursday, it will be necessary to pull out all the stops to catch up against Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
The program in the league can also be scary: Marseille, Lille then Monaco. It will be necessary to find resources (and recruits) to turn the tide and not afford a nightmare season.