The elimination of FC Nantes against Juventus in the Europa League play-offs on Thursday (0-3) did not dampen the enthusiasm of Nantes fans, who witnessed an evening that will remain memorable.
An end to the match in an atmosphere of madness, kops that respond to each other, a stadium that applauds and celebrates for… a defeat. FC Nantes was indeed eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday, February 23, after its big defeat against Juventus at home (0-3) in the play-offs. But this heavy setback and the nightmarish scenario of the meeting did not prevent the Nantes supporters from making noise until the end of the match and even after.
For twenty-seven years, the younger generations of Canary supporters have heard of Nantes’ defeat in the semi-finals of the 1996 Champions League against Juventus. They now have their own, but it took place in a very different atmosphere. The show was not on the ground this time.
From the middle of the afternoon, despite the rain, the yellow jerseys were out in the cafes and bars of the city center. The first songs of supporters – some already a little tipsy – were sung at the bar La Beaujoire, two and a half hours before the kickoff of the meeting. After the first rallying cries, the first tensions too.
Beautiful people at Beaujoire
The major meetings of the European Cup, FC Nantes is no longer used to them, and neither are the local authorities. The latter faced a major security challenge, that of welcoming the 900 Italian supporters. Challenge which caused the first heat stroke of the evening just over an hour from kick-off, at Saint-Georges, the HQ of the Loire Brigade. Contained by a cordon of CRS, the ultra supporters of FC Nantes managed to get around it by knocking down the gates of a private property.
“We are not bad guys“, launches a fan who covers his face because of the tear gas.The police never come to bother us“, assures another to explain the misunderstanding, before heading to the stadium. The past tensions, place in the stands, where the rumor runs that a giant tifo is going to be erected. It is, with the slogan: “A city in fusion, the Beaujoire in eruption”. When the players enter the pitch, the Loire stand turns into a volcano.
Thousands of scarves in the colors of FC Nantes are waved in the air, the former glories of the club invited for the occasion, such as Didier Deschamps or Claude Makélélé, participating in the party. Everyone gathered in Nantes for this gala evening, like Laurent Berger, the boss of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), who is taking a break from the trade union fight against the reform of retreats to come and support his “forever club”.
And the smoke bombs appeared
After twenty minutes of play, the scenario is cruel for Nantes: the Canaries are reduced to ten against eleven and led by two goals. The qualification moves away but the supporters do not abdicate. Despite the looming defeat and the rain that continues to fall, the Loire stand makes a monster noise. The capo will boost the morale of the Nantes players at the end of the meeting: “We are fully behind you guys, maintaining [en Ligue 1] It will be ok.”
Lost for lost, the smoke bombs appeared en masse at the end of the match, while Nantes was suspended for the use of pyrotechnic devices. “Attention, it is forbidden, it is forbidden”laughed a supporter on the forecourt of the stadium before the match, in reference to the message sent by Antoine Kombouaré, the Nantes coach on the eve of the meeting: “It’s got to be fire in the stadium, but figuratively.”
In the voices, a touch of disappointment
After the elimination, comes the time to repack. Around La Beaujoire, we redo the game by consoling ourselves at the refreshment bar. In the voices, a touch of disappointment. In the tram back in the center of Nantes, some supporters have already moved on and are watching AS Monaco in turn be eliminated from the Europa League. Life can resume its course, with the feeling of having lived a moment of history.
As in 1996, Nantes has just been eliminated by Juventus in the European Cup. “We now have a share of history in common with our elders., smiles Jérémy, accompanied by his girlfriend Thérésa. A fundamental difference remains: this disillusion took place in a Beaujoire stadium in fusion, which supported its team until the end. “We are like that in Nantes”laughs Thérésa, already turned towards the next big goal of the club: the quarter-final of the Coupe de France against Lens, next Wednesday.