There will be no Champions League for Nice next season. Despite a lot of anger, the Aiglons lost to PSG on Wednesday in a late match on the 32nd day of Ligue 1 (1-2) and are definitely left behind by Brest and Lille. They will finish 5th in the standings after this setback due to goals from Bradley Barcola (18th) and Yoram Zague (23rd). Mohamed-Ali Cho reduced the score (32nd) but the expulsion of Melvin Bard sealed the fate of the match (75th).
The stakes were high and the atmosphere hot for the last of the season at the Allianz Riviera. The Riviera venue was full with an audience who hoped to see their protégés confirm their good form and win as in the first leg (2-3) to still dream of C1. The Parisians had to recover despite the absence of Kylian Mbappé or Ousmane Dembélé.
Zague at the party
Ambitious, the Aiglons wanted to press high and strike hard. It almost worked very quickly but Khephren Thuram shot at Arnau Tenas’ right post after Warren Zaire-Emery (5th) lost the ball. In an intense and contested start to the match, it was PSG who punished their opponent with a missed short throw from Jordan Lotomba against Fabian Ruiz and the cool-headed opener from Barcola for a 4th personal goal in L1 this season (0-1, 18th).
A little too daring, the Aiglons remained stunned and quickly conceded a second goal with an overflow from the untenable Barcola which benefited Zague. At the conclusion at six meters, the right-back was able to celebrate his 18th birthday by opening his account among the pros (0-2, 23rd).
Barcola did very badly
Pushed by their noisy supporters and led by a still imperial Dante with the ball at his feet, the Niçois still got back in the right direction by pressing very high again. The Riviera captain went to recover the ball on the edge of the opposing area and the sharp Jérémie Boga was able to serve Cho to reduce the score (1-2, 32nd). Nice suddenly regained hope and the ascendancy in the game.
Boga, however, came up against Tenas (36th) then Terem Moffi saw Marquinhos divert his dangerous dive shot (39th) before an off-target shot from Morgan Sanson despite an excellent position (45th). Switched to a three-way central defense at the restart, Francesco Farioli’s players were nevertheless unable to confirm their start against a more cautious and more solid PSG even if Boga showed himself again (60th). Entering in place of Cho (58th), Gaëtan Laborde was unable to punish Tenas after another failed restart while Nice started to push hard again (72nd).
The Aiglons paid for their naivety with the expulsion of Bard for a very clear anti-playing fault on Barcola who was running alone on the counter after a Nice corner (75th). The former Lyonnais was still far from Marcin Bulka’s surface but the intervention was crude. The restless Barcola then found the post from close range (79th). Despite a riot of energy in the final moments of the match, Nice lost and will have to settle for a place in the Europa League. This suits his next opponent Lille and Brest.