Clément Pédron, Media365: published on Saturday May 13, 2023 at 10:43 a.m.
The 35th day of Ligue 2 opens this Saturday with the opening match, the duel between Quevilly-Rouen and Bordeaux (3 p.m.). The Girondins, currently huddled in the exhausts of the Le Havre leader, are playing a real mano-a-mano with Metz. Behind, the fight is raging between Laval, Dijon and Nîmes.
The fight for the rise
1 – Le Havre 71 points; 2 – Bordeaux 65 points; 3 – Metz 62 points; 4 – Bastia 53 points; 5 – Sochaux 52 points
The Girondins de Bordeaux and FC Metz are fighting for the same place of dolphin of Le Havre. For the moment, the first named is in a favorable position. With a three-point lead, David Guion’s team is moving forward with confidence but without serenity. With a short success over Caen last week (1-0), the FCGB is keeping the pressure on, especially as it will play before its direct opponent in the standings. Be careful, however, not to fall into the trap of Quevilly-Rouen. The Norman team surprises its world at the moment (8th in Ligue 2) and remains on five meetings without defeat. “It’s the head that decides and leads the feet, acknowledged Guion at a press conference. We saw it against Caen, it was the work around cohesion, this state of mind that made us win the match”. FC Metz has an appointment on its lawn against Grenoble (7th) and can lose everything in the event of a bad result this Saturday evening (7 p.m.) combined with a Bordeaux victory. In a press conference, the Messin technician, Laszlo Bölöni agreed that the match schedule, compared to that of Bordeaux, was a “handicap”. At the top of the standings, Le Havre can chain a third success in a row if they win in Annecy on Monday and validate their rise in Ligue 1 on one condition: pocket more points than Metz. Bastia, Sochaux and Caen, who stand at one point but 9 units from Metz, face Niort, Guingamp and Nîmes respectively.
The struggle to maintain
15 – Valenciennes 38 points; 16 – Annecy 38 points; 17 – Laval 37 points; 18 – Dijon 35 points; 19 – Nimes 33 points; 20 – Niort 27 points
If the duel is bitter at the front of the classification, it is also at the back. This Saturday, we can already officially know the identity of the first relegated. Niort, stuck in a very complicated sporting and unsportsmanlike spiral, can already look, during his trip to Corsica, on his 2023-2024 National 1 calendar. If the Chamois do not win in Bastia or if they win but among Valenciennes, Annecy and Laval, at least two teams win, it’s over for Bernard Simondi’s gang. Nîmes, Dijon and Laval, in the order of their rise in the classification, can hope to maintain their position, but they will need favorable results in addition to hoping for a drop in several teams. Stade Lavallois seems to be one of the formations most likely to retain its place in Ligue 2. Olivier Frappoli’s players remain on a major success on their lawn against Bastia (2-1) thanks to a double from Elisor and will want to make a move this Saturday evening against Saint-Étienne, another team in form at the moment. Finally, the task promises to be difficult for Nîmes Olympique, opposed to Caen, sixth in the standings.
#Ligue #challenges #35th #day
