the French clubs achieve a faultless… What to remember from this last day of the group stage

Four French clubs were outThursday, November 3, for the last days of the Europa League (Rennes, Nantes and Monaco) and Europa League conference (Nice). While Rennes was already guaranteed to finish in one of the first two qualifying places in its group, Nantes and Monaco offered themselves a prestigious poster in February. For its part, Nice took first place in its group and qualified directly for the round of 16 of C4.

Planets aligned for FC Nantes

The feat of the evening is to be credited to the Canaries! Third one point behind the Azerbaijanis of Qarabag before the match, FC Nantes managed to win against Olympiakos (0-2), to transform his place as a C4 play-off, already assured, into a ticket for the C3 play-offs.

Faced with a revamped Piraeus team, which had nothing left to play for, Antoine Kombouaré’s men thwarted it for a long time. But while Freiburg was doing the work in Azerbaijan, Nantes seized the great opportunity that presented itself to them. Well found by Ludovic Blas, lEgyptian Mostafa Mohamed deceived the opposing goalkeeper with a header (79th), before turning into a passer, with a magnificent backheel, for the Frenchman (89th).

The people of Nantes who live their qualification for the Europa League play-offs on a laptop five minutes after the end of their match (2-0 victory against Olympiacos). Superb pictures. pic.twitter.com/JTAni6wrAb

– RMC Sport (@RMCsport) November 3, 2022

Qarabag’s late equalizer in the group’s other game didn’t change anything. Except that Nantes had to wait a few moments in Greece before celebrating their second place with their supporters. Qualified for the Europa League play-offs, the Canaries will face a side transferred from the Champions League in February. There is no doubt that the public of La Beaujoire will be there.

Volland wears the ASM

AS Monaco did not shake. While a victory was enough for the players of the Principality to join the C3 play-offs, the club easily won at home face at Red Star Belgrade (4-1). Very prominent, Kevin Volland scored a hat-trick for the Red and Whites.

The German first took advantage of a hazardous exit from the opposing goalkeeper to give his team the lead with a header (5th). Then not really manhandled by the Serbian defense, he doubled the bet from the right (26th). After an own goal from Milan Rodic (50th) and a penalty from Guelor Kanga for Belgrade (54th), Volland even offered himself a perfect hat-trick by taking over a cross from Ismail Jakobs from the left (87th). Thanks to this success, Monaco validates the second place of its pool and will be there in February.

Rennes can bite his fingers

The Rennais conceded the draw at Roazhon Park against the Cypriots of AEK Larnaca at Roazhon Park (1-1). Matthis Abline opened the scoring by deceiving the opposing goalkeeper from the right after a high recovery from Benjamin Bourigeaud (17th). The Reds and Blacks even thought they could quickly take cover thanks to Lovro Majer but his goal was disallowed for offside (22′) and Larnaca came back through Rafa Lopes (76′).

A result, combined with a victory for Fenerbahce against Dynamo kyiv (0-2), which condemns the Bretons in second place in their group, synonymous with passing through the jump-off box. All the more infuriating after the draw 3-3 against the Turks last Thursday, when they were leading 0-3 and a victory would have assured them first place.

The potential opponents of FC Nantes, AS Monaco and Stade Rennes: Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Barcelona, ​​Sporting, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar, Sevilla FC, Juventus.

Schmeichel sends Nice into the round of 16

The only French club on Thursday to have offered a little respite in Europe is therefore OGC Nice. Despite a draw against Cologne (2-2) during which the Aiglons were on the edge, the Riviera club finished first in their Europa League conference group and offered themselves a direct ticket to the round of 16 of the competition. .

QUALIFIED

Enormous courage this evening in Cologne (2-2), the Aiglons retain first place in the Rendez-vous group in the round of 16 of@europacnfleague #KOEOGCN #OGCNice https://t.co/mQpTMWLUkz pic.twitter.com/JR1JZfWCDU

—OGC Nice (@ogcnice) November 3, 2022

However, Kasper Schmeichel was put to the test. The Danish goalkeeper intervened against Sargis Adamyan (7th) then on a dangerous header from Steffan Tigges (26th) before Nice took the lead thanks to two goals in quick succession from Gaëtan Laborde (40th) and Billal Brahimi from l outside the area (43rd). Dropped by his defense after returning from the locker room, the Nice goalkeeper lost twice to Denis Huseinbasic (48th) and Ondrej Duda (60th). But while a victory for the Germans would have eliminated the Gym (Partizan going ahead in the other game), Schmeichel proved decisive by putting Benno Schmitz failed in the dying seconds (90th + 4).

Nice will however have to wait until the end of the play-offs in February to find out their next opponent in C4. Among the teams still present in the competition, Lazio Rome, transferred from C3, West Ham and Villarreal are favorites.