From the Coupe de France final on Saturday to their game against Brest in Ligue 1 on Wednesday, the most important game for Nantes may not be the one where they will fight for a title.
There is a scenario, not so illusory, in which Nantes could face Rodez, Liverpool and Annecy in the same week next autumn. The Canaries, in the fight to stay in Ligue 1, also have the opportunity to win a new qualification for the Europa League if they win in the final of the Coupe de France, against Toulouse, Saturday April 29. First non-relegation before the 32nd day, tied with Brest, 17th, the Nantes will have to forget the championship, the time of an evening, to concentrate on their final.
From a prestigious match against Juventus Turin to the fight for maintenance, passing through a final at the Stade de France, the season of FC Nantes escapes all logic and has everything of a roller coaster. From September, while the Nantes have only had one victory (against Toulouse) during the first 10 days of the championship, they gave themselves some air in the Europa League, with a success against Olympiakos. But the European thinning was spoiled with three defeats against Karabagh (3-0) and Freiburg (2-0 then 4-0), before the Canaries pulled themselves together to qualify for the round of 16, against the Turinese. And if they had a good performance by getting the draw at Juventus Stadium, they were largely dominated in the return match (3-0).
A victory in the Coupe de France will not be celebrated
But since these gala matches against the multiple Italian champions in February, Nantes have not won a single league match, 9 games without success in Ligue 1 (5 losses and 4 draws). Under these conditions, a possible victory in the Coupe de France will not be fully savored until the maintenance in Ligue 1 is acquired. The club does not plan any celebration on the return of the players to Nantes, in the event of a title on Saturday evening, when 10,000 supporters had swept through the streets of Nantes last year. For good reason, the Canaries have a crucial match to play against their direct competitor in the standings, Brest, on Wednesday, when the two teams have the same number of points (32).
“The championship is a hundred times more important than the Coupe de France”, hammered right-back Fabien Centonze after his team’s draw against Troyes on Sunday (2-2). Antoine Kombouaré however deplores, for a few weeks, that the spirits of his players are turned towards the Coupe de France. “We can say what we want, but today the players are not concerned by the maintenance. We made a 16th final of the Europa League, we are going to make a Stade de France, but apparently they prefer that we are in trouble”he railed, on Prime Video, after the defeat of his family in Auxerre. “The players want to play the final, so in the commitment, you are not 100%. You don’t want to take a red card, you don’t want to get injured”he added after the draw against Troyes.
“Winning the Coupe de France but being relegated to Ligue 2, I don’t know if that really makes sense”, wondered Fabien Centonze after the draw against Troyes. Already in 2000, when Nantes won the Coupe de France for the second consecutive season, the Canaries had escaped to the league with a victory on the last day. “It is often said that history repeats itself, and there are similarities with the early 2000s. But if we can avoid staying only at the last day, it would be better”, hopes all the same Antoine Kombouaré, guest of Tout le Sport on Tuesday evening. And if the Nantes approached their last league matches as cup matches to achieve this?