Metz still not said

Don’t look for them on the red carpet. This Sunday, no Messin will need to take off his suit and head to the UNFP trophies near the Pavillon Gabriel in Paris. When we point to the 18^Y place in Ligue 1 in mid-May, overall we have few individual distinctions to claim. On the other hand, precisely because it is this morning 18^are and therefore practically in the play-off, the Lorenses will have the obligation to play the big game next Saturday, still in the capital. All this thanks to a run of two wins at home, the last of them this Saturday against Angers (1-0) which allowed them to beat Saint-Étienne on goal difference. They who had not achieved this “performance” since October 2020. They who until then had only achieved one victory this season at Saint-Symphorien, on a December afternoon against Lorient (4-1). But now, when they thought they had hit bottom three weeks ago against Brest (0-1), being condemned to go up in this damn elevator for the thirteenth time in twenty years, Antonetti’s gang lives on. “It was unexpectedNicolas de Préville whispered into the Prime Video microphone. Let’s play our survival in Paris, it’s amazing. The victory against Lyon last Sunday (3-2) gave us hope… Incredible things are happening in football. »

Sacred Fire and Generation Zé

Football. It is because Metz has finally decided to put football back at the center of his project that he has given himself the right to believe in keeping, he who only has 31 points, while the urban legend wants him to need 10 more to save himself. Yes, football and everything that goes with it. That is, come up with a scheme that does more than just stack up defenders; finally take advantage of the qualities of these good attackers, Didier Lamkel Zé and Nicolas de Préville; trust again last year’s executives who are Farid Boulaya, Kiki Kouyaté, Thomas Delaine and Pape Matar Sarr; bet on the youth of William Mikelbrencis, Sikou Niakaté or Lenny Lacroix; leaning on the calm of Marc-Aurèle Caillard rather than on the leaden farts of Alexandre Oukidja; reactivate the support of stands hitherto devoid of positive emotions. So many things that had happened for too long Frédéric Antonetti, also back on the bench after seven games in the fridge, obstinate in his doubts and his bloodshed. So many things that finally allowed his team to rekindle the sacred fire and compensate for a seven-point delay over rivals who were afloat.

The Corsican, who has never known relegation in his entire career, had publicly knelt before the reception of OL, as if he could no longer expect anything from this “dark season” during which he held the position of red lantern for nine days. “I don’t want to look for excuses. We had our chancehe lamented. It is so. We managed to hold out for two seasons, but we didn’t make it this year. » Did you talk too fast? It’s still too early to tell. But in any case, his players fulfilled the objective that had been set before facing the SCO, that of “Give a good image and demonstrate having [leur] place in Ligue 1 » . The road to stay there next year is still long. We’ll have to do at least as well as Saint-Étienne (on the way to Nantes), but on the pitch of the Parc des Princes, even if it means spoiling the Parisians’ coronation ceremony. “Anything is possible, we like to play against the greats” warns Nicolás de Préville, who unfortunately will be suspended for this meeting. Therefore, it is on the broad shoulders and great temperament of his new attacking friend that all eyes will be suspended: Didier Lamkel Zé. The Cameroonian, landed at the beginning of April in Moselle from Antwerp, brought his freshness to a group with undermined morale, his strong character and also his sense of will. With three pawns on the clock, the guy is looking forward to taking on the role of Ronny Rodelin, who saved Stade Malherbe at the Parc from relegation in 2017 with an injury-time goal. Antonetti to chill the champagne before the match, we can only hope that the Parisians have planned more, only to mark the occasion if such a scenario repeats itself.

By Mathieu Rollinger