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Defeated in the final of the Coupe de France on Saturday (1-0), OGC Nice missed the chance to qualify for a European Cup before the end of the championship. Christophe Galtier will have to motivate his troops again for the last three Ligue 1 games.
After the setback in the French Cup final against Nantes (1-0), the day off given to the Niçois on Sunday was going to be used to recover from a bad hangover. Returning empty-handed to the Côte d’Azur around 4:45 am on Sunday, the Aiglons will have to resume training on Monday at the Center de la Plaine du Var and prepare for a crucial match for the race for Europe against Saint -Étienne (Wednesday, 7 pm). But in what state?
eliminated players
With just a few hours to go before the final, Captain Dante had assumed that this game had been in his head and that of his teammates for many weeks, which had earned him a comment from Christophe Galtier, with a smile, saying that he better understood the disappointing last performances. of the players of it.
The people of Nice wanted to dream on Saturday night. They finally left Saint-Denis plagued by remorse, doubts and sorrows, like the tears on the cheeks of the young Khephren Thuram, Melvin Bard and Hicham Boudaoui.
Before joining the locker room, another feeling could be read on the faces of the Riviera players: frustration. Upset that Stéphanie Frappart’s refereeing failed to improve his Baie des Anges popularity rating, Jean-Clair Todibo was seen leaving the tunnel in a tense discussion with Ludovic Blas before Nantais went on to lift the cup.
In the locker room, Christophe Galtier did not return to the performance of his players. The analysis will begin on Monday. The only perceptible voices were those of the players’ children who will only understand later that a final is not played every year, at least not for OGC Nice. On the return plane, the same observation as on the supporter trains, a dead silence. Everything fell from above.
angry supporters
If the dubious penalty awarded to the Ligériens at the start of the second half did not sit well with some fans, others are above all disgusted at having traveled across the country to attend such a spectacle. “I don’t blame anyone, rather everyone. Galtier for the incomprehensible composition. The team that wasn’t in the match and didn’t show anything. It’s my worst disappointment as a fan,” confesses Axel, a supporter of the Gymnasium.
I don’t blame anyone, or rather everyone.
Alain, a historic fan, is “disgusted”. “If you want to win a final, you have to fight. We didn’t play it,” he laments, as bitterly as Jean-Philippe: “We saw the same OGC Nice that we have seen in the championship since the spring: no surprise or self-esteem,” describes one of the podcast figures advance nisa dedicated to the current affairs of the club, “how can one be so little invested in a game of such importance? It’s as if we had been robbed of the pleasure of believing in him a little during the game”.
Julien Fournier weakened
Players are therefore targeted, such as Kasper Dolberg seeing his crowd-favorite status crumble, but also Christophe Galtier for his difficulty in breaking through the pack and his obsession with a tactical system that doesn’t satisfy, and the leaders with Julien Fournier at the head of the gondola. The winter transfer window has led to tensions between the director of football and the Gymnasium’s new coach. When the second demanded experience, the first hired Bilal Brahimi, 22 years old and with less than ten Ligue 1 games under his belt. In this sense, Christophe Galtier would have contacted the shareholders directly to express his desire to set up a template that suits him better.
To this is added a press release from INEOS dated last Wednesday about another club in its galaxy, Lausanne, future relegated to the Swiss second division, announcing the arrival of a new sports director, Leen Heemskerk, occupying to date Julien Fournier this position. for all clubs in the group (Nice, Lausanne and Abidjan).
A complicated final sprint
It is therefore, as usually happens after a failed final and a dynamic at half-staff, the blur on the horizon. Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to buy Chelsea, even if defeated, worried Gym fans and some employees. On Saturday, when the starting gun was approaching and after being acclaimed by La Populaire Sud, the British investor confessed before the microphone of CMR that “winning the Coupe de France was something important for the INEOS project”. If his wish has not been fulfilled, he can still aspire to qualify for the European Cup through the championship because participating in continental games is, in fact, “the objective of the club”, recalls Jean-Pierre Rivère.
We have to raise our heads and finish the season well.
Currently sixth in Ligue 1, OGC Nice could move within two points of the podium if they win against Saint-Etienne on Wednesday. “We have to raise our heads, face next season and above all finish the season well”, hammered the president after the defeat against Nantes. “Nothing can replace the disappointment of this failed final,” laments Axel for his part. “I will continue to go to the stadium because I am loyal to my city and my club, but without any particular desire and with great sadness.” Alain continues: “The Wednesday, the stadium will continue to sound hollow.