The Canaries at the end of their new defeat against Lyon on Sunday. – LOIC VENANCE / AFP
- Nantes, which plays in Strasbourg on Sunday, is penultimate in L1 with three points behind the 18th, Nîmes.
- Even if the Kombouaré formation is on an ultra-negative spiral, 20 minutes found some reason for supporters to believe in the hold.
Before May 23, and the last day of Ligue 1, the Canaries should not go through Lourdes. Two trips, one to the east (in Strasbourg on Sunday) and one in the north-west (in Brest in two weeks), the reception of Bordeaux then a trip to Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in Dijon and finally the reception of Montpellier await the
FC Nantes, 19th and penultimate, with three points behind the 18th Nîmes and four on the 17th, Lorient. Is it still possible to believe in maintaining (or at worst in the place of barrage) for the FCN, which has won twice in the last 24 Ligue 1 games (!)? Well yes… 20 minutes found (somewhat dishonestly) arguments for a rescue in extremis.
Direct competitors who are not moving forward either
FC Nantes, which advances at the rate of a snail with in particular 13 draws in 33 days (only Reims does worse with 14 draws), is fortunate to have two direct adversaries maintaining not really more dashing for two months. Lorient has snatched only three victories in the last twelve meetings while Nîmes has won four times during the same period. The two teams overtook the Canaries without ever dropping them completely… A first miracle when we see the mediocre course of the FCN. The Nantes midfielder Ludovic Blas even said before the reception of Lyon: “But it is not a drama either, we are not six points behind Nîmes either. [à trois points aujourd’hui]. You have to see the bright side of things, it could have been worse. “
A team that has not (yet) abdicated
This argument gained in credit especially with regard to the last performance of FC Nantes. Certainly, the Canaries lost (1-2) against Lyon, but they perhaps deserved better. “If we fight like that, it will pass,” even dropped defender Nicolas Pallois after the defeat on Sunday. The 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1, offensive at the kickoff of Kombouaré with a more playful midfielder (Chirivella-Louza), seemed to bring more guarantees of fluidity in the game. ideas for the Nantes coach,? “It is an indication [cette composition] for the next game. You will have to play to win them. We need victories now. “Nicolas Pallois still after Lyon:” Nobody gave up and that’s the positive point. A few weeks ago, we would have given up. There, we continued. “
A (relatively) affordable end of the course
Apart from Montpellier (8th) during the final day, FC Nantes will not face any formation in the first part of the table. He could even challenge demobilized teams (a bit). Strasbourg (14th) is not very far from being on vacation. Brest (15th) and Bordeaux (16th) could be almost maintained when they face Nantes. Dijon will be in L2 when Nantes visits him. And Montpellier could well play the last match at Beaujoire without having a major objective at stake. “I told the players that we have no more excuses now, believes Kombouaré. We will play the teams of our championship. We will see if we have the mentality and the quality to hang on to victories. “
Antoine Kombouaré has already experienced this with Dijon
If it does not grab 17th place, the FCN can reasonably aim for 18th, that of play-off (round-trip matches against a L2 formation). During the 2018-2019 financial year, Antoine Kombouaré managed to keep Dijon in the elite by this means. he Kanak said at the time: “I don’t like the word miracle because in life, you always get what you deserve. When you run away, it’s because you did the right thing. But we went through a mouse hole, through the very small door. ” Another interesting statistic: since the creation in 2017 of the play-offs, only one L1 club (Lorient) has not escaped (2016-2017).