Montpellier punctuates the end of the Fleury 91 season. The Essonne club, beaten by PSG in the final of the Coupe de France (1-0) this Saturday afternoon at the La Mosson stadium, hosts the Héraultaises this Wednesday, May 8 for the last day of the championship. A new “final” for Fabrice Abriel’s players: if successful, they will reach the last four of D1 Arkema and will compete in the playoffs with a half against OL, on Sunday May 12.
But everything in its time for Fleury, the small Ile-de-France club which is becoming big. First, it’s time to digest a defeat in the final, never easy even when you’re not the favorite against the ogre PSG. “We watched the images of the goal again, it’s a little frustrating,” breathes Léa Le Garrec, the captain. It was a balanced match. There weren’t many chances on our side, nor on the Paris side. We respected the game plan… It’s not like we lost 6-0. »
The regrets are there among the actresses. A little less with the coach. “We’re always learning,” the former midfielder philosophers. You have to go to the final often to have this experience and better understand the context. I didn’t feel any inhibition. It was a decent match but nothing more than that. » A way of saying that Fleury lacked a bit of madness to try to shake up a PSG just as timid and tired by the end of the season.
“The season is not over”
The second step will be recovery. Like Léa Le Garrec, lame, the shocks and the Montpellier heat have bruised the bodies. “There is fatigue, blows, disappointment… But the season is not over,” Le Garrec addresses his group. “No matter the scenario, it was planned that we would stay in Montpelier to organize the immediate recovery,” explains Abriel. But there will inevitably be changes to Wednesday’s match. »
And finally it’s time to prepare for a meeting against Montpellier, who has nothing left to play, in three days (4:30 p.m., May 8). “This cup final was a milestone. But the light won’t go out tonight, Abriel reminds. There is no end of season. That’s the danger. It is extremely complex to bounce back after a defeat. But we have the opportunity to finish the job. Montpellier will want to finish well too. It’s up to us to find even greater motivation. »
At the same time on Wednesday, Stade de Reims, Fleury’s only competitor for 4th place, hosts… PSG, which will rotate its squad widely. “We don’t expect any gifts from anyone,” concludes the Essonne coach. Jocelyn Prêcheur, his Parisian counterpart, made no secret of this subject at a press conference this Saturday. His PSG, exhausted, will leave the executives to rest in view of the D1 semi-final against Paris FC, Saturday May 11.
