It’s an old spring of one against all, when the ranks close to go into battle against the whole world, and no one masters it as well as Juventus, no doubt. Seventeen years after the Calciopoli scandal which had sent it to Serie B, the Turin club received another good blow, on January 20, with these fifteen penalty points inflicted by sports justice for its over- dubious values on transfers, but he quickly regained his senses and his way forward.
The two camps may do everything to normalize the meeting, this quarter-final will not be a meeting like any other and not only because it is knockout. Because opposite Toulon, it’s Lyon. “Revenge of Revenge of Revenge” smiled Baptiste Couilloud from the victory at Stade Français acquired in the previous round. A final before the letter? In any case, that of the last edition of Challenge won by Lyon (30-12).
“So, it’s a mouthful, no! ? When will a paper on our recruitment? » On June 28, Laurent Boissier, sports coordinator of the SCO and architect of the refoundation of the Angevin workforce after the departure of thirteen players, including the captains Romain Thomas (Caen, L2), Ismaël Traoré (Metz, L2) or Vincent Manceau ( Guingamp, L2), welcomed its early transfer window. Seven and a half months later, the results are implacable: Angers does not have the level, in particular because of a failed recruitment, while waiting to measure the contribution of Faouzi Ghoulam and Ibrahima Niane who arrived in January.
Japhet N’Doram receives guests at the Lieu Unique, which has the advantage of bringing together two Nantes monuments in the same place. He leads training sessions several times a week with different audiences, including migrants who sometimes slip in to him: “I didn’t know you were such a good player. » The goal they find first on the Internet is neither the most beautiful nor the most important of his career. But he was registered against Juventus Turin on April 17, 1996, in the semi-finals of the Champions League, the highest peak in the European history of the FCN, an absolute symbol of the tormented companionship between the Canary club and continental competitions. An outside of the foot carried by rage and spite, in the 69th minute, to come back to 2-2. When it was already too late. “We wanted to show them that they qualified, OK, but against a good team. But it was played out on the way (0-2) », remembers the inspiration of this Nantes.
Already the author of 15 goals in 21 matches with Reims (14 in 20 L1 matches, 1 in the Cup), center-forward Folarin Balogun stands out as the great revelation of the season in France. On loan without a purchase option from Arsenal last summer, the English U23 international (21 years old, 13 caps, 7 goals) presents a very wide range, dissected by three consultants – Djibril Cissé (the L’Équipe channel), Jimmy Briand and Benjamin Nivet (Prime Video) – as well as by its captain, Yunis Abdelhamid.
A clamor. A first date as a promise. The Beaujoire stadium began to rumble on Wednesday when Andy Delort entered the lawn in place of Moses Simon, against Marseille, while Nantes was down 1 to 0 and still hoped to come back ( 0-2, final score). The first emotions of an idyll on the banks of the Erdre between the striker with 85 goals in Ligue 1 and the FCN?
