It’s almost the last straight line for AJA! Before the last international break at the end of March, the Icaunais (4th, 48 points), who remain on three victories in a row, will chain three matches in barely a week: this Saturday (3 p.m., 28th day L2) with the reception of Sochaux (5th, 47 points), Tuesday in Nîmes (8th, 36 points) and next Saturday with the arrival of Toulouse (1st, 57 points). An infernal triptych that will have to be negotiated as well as possible for the Ajaists to hope to be always well placed to play the climb, if possible direct. For that, it will first be necessary to beat the Doubistes, who have only one point less, and finally to break the negative spiral against the teams of the Top 6. Because until now, the men of Jean-Marc Furlan n have never managed to win against a championship cador this season (four draws, three defeats).
The challenge: it’s now or never to beat a big
A shock on a Saturday at 3 p.m., a stadium – without Sochaux supporters, banned from traveling – which should beat the attendance record for the season (10,306 spectators, against Pau, November 6), a Ajaist team which can chain a fourth straight win in Ligue 2 for the first time since February 2013, the opportunity to relegate a direct competitor to the rise to four points, a full Auxerre squad and a last benchmark success in 2022 at Rodez last week (3-1 , 27th day L2): all the lights are green to finally have a big part of the championship.
The issue is therefore essential. Even if the icaunais coach prefers to play down. “It’s true that there are big meetings where we haven’t often been on time, conceded Jean-Marc Furlan in the pre-match conference. But even if we didn’t win against the big guys, if you beat all the other teams, you’re ahead.” It could be heard. But the lead that the other big players have over Auxerre (respectively nine, four and three points more for the leader Toulouse, the runner-up Paris FC and the 3rd Ajaccio) could also have been due to the inability of the ‘AJA to be effective in these key moments. “You insist heavily on it, the technician gets a little annoyed, but to say: ‘We have never won against a big guy, we have to win’… That’s what our former coaches said in the 20th century. It’s bullshit and simplistic lyrics.”
The Auxerre coach prefers to rely on other sources to motivate his troops. “The important thing is how you are able to try to erase your faults, to increase your technical, tactical, physical and intellectual qualities. It’s a combination of many factors that make you move forward. Especially in the face of difficult teams as playful as Sochaux. We saw it in the first leg, it was a very pleasant meeting because Sochaux take risks, attack. It’s a very important challenge to take up. It will be a very difficult match for us. But it’s true that I hope we will have a lot of dynamism and audacity.” The Abbé-Deschamps is waiting for that, roaring with pleasure to see the Icaunais put the time for a match with these Cubs in a cage.
The group: Autret and Charbonnier back
“Of course, ‘Charbo’ and ‘Mathi’ compete against Sochaux” : the day before the match, Jean-Marc Furlan confirmed that the co-top scorer of the championship Gaëtan Charbonnier (13 goals) and the playmaker Mathias Autret, absent in Rodez (the first suspended, the first affected in the hamstrings), were fit this Saturday against the Doubistes. A weighty comeback for the Icaunais, even if the two executives of the Ajaist attack are not in sparkling form in 2022. But the talent of great men is also measured during major meetings. There is no doubt that the two friends will be cheered for this gala meeting, which sees AJA display a full group, carried by the new offensive spearhead Gauthier Hein (four goals in four matches after not scoring any none in the previous 19 days). An Auxerre team which could again be aligned in 4-1-4-1, its preferred scheme. Gentlemen, all that remains is to set the road to Vaux on fire!
The adversary: a dangerous FCSM in many ways
If the first leg last September at Bonal had not given birth to a meeting on goal (0-0, 10th day of L2), it was nevertheless quite strong, with in particular a crossbar hit by Autret and a Sochaux quartet ahead of Kalulu-Mauricio-Do Couto-Weissbeck who had made the Auxerre defense dizzy. A Sochaux formation both solid and offensive which also needs points against the big players, with two defeats against two leaders faced: 1-0 at home against AC Ajaccio (25th day L2) and a Corsican goalkeeper on fire , and 3-1 at Paris FC (26th game L2) having conceded the three Parisian goals in just seven minutes despite the opener. The desire to redeem themselves will therefore be enormous on the side of the men of Omar Daf, who would be tempted to field a fifth offensive player this afternoon: Alan Virginius, 19 years old and four goals scored off the bench. Auxerre will still have to be respected at home, as it has often done against Sochaux: 14 victories in 18 receptions for the Doubistes in the 21st century.