The French clubs did not shine this Thursday during the 6th day of the Europa League. Losc lost on the pitch of Young Boys Berne, like Nice against Braga.
Nice officially eliminated from the competition
Nice is officially eliminated from the Europa League after its new defeat against Braga (0-1), Thursday evening, the eighth in a row in all competitions, which constitutes a new sad record in the history of a club where nothing is going well.
At this rate, the disenchantment between OGC Nice and its public will not dissipate for a long time. This team now holds the club’s new record for consecutive defeats. While a trip to Lens, L1 leader, is looming on Sunday. The previous record dated from 2013. Claude Puel was coach and the series only included Ligue 1 matches. Last in C3 with zero points (six defeats in six days), Nice also extended its catastrophic series in the European Cup with an 18th match without a victory.
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While the call for a boycott was widely followed since the Allianz Riviera did not have more than 4,000 spectators (compared to the 12,169 announced by the club), i.e. half as many as against Angers (0-1), the Aiglons offered nothing to “putting the pieces back together”as President Fabrice Bocquet requested on Sunday evening. With the trip to Lens in mind, Franck Haise made eight changes to his starting lineup. Only Melvin Bard, Tom Louchet and Ali Abdi started against Angers.
But that didn’t change anything. The first period was catastrophic. Beyond the desperate collective level, attitudes were extremely far from what a Europa League match requires, a professional meeting, quite simply. With 133 passes made in 45 minutes, three times less than the Portuguese, with 32% possession, the amorphous Nice team was dominated at all levels, like Kojo Oppong, far from marking the pivot of Amine El Ouazzani, author of a shot wide (17th) or guilty of a gross foul on Pau Victor, which earned him a warning (37th).
But once again this season, it was Melvin Bard, a disoriented captain, who was at the origin of the goal conceded. He restarted directly on Bright Arrey-Mbi, who developed a school action, concluded by Victor (0-1, 28th). Fortunately for them, after the break, the Niçois were more combative. But neither Kevin Carlos (53rd) nor Isak Jansson (59th) were precise enough. The entries of Mendy, Clauss, whistled at each ball catch, Diop, Vanhoutte and Cho changed nothing. As a symbol, the latter, alone ten meters from the opposing goals, found a way to hit four meters above (82nd). Having left the Europa League without glory, Nice must now ensure its maintenance in Ligue 1.
Lille misses the Top 8
Lille missed the opportunity on Thursday to enter the top 8 of the Europa League by losing numerically to Young Boys from Bern (1-0), weighed down by the expulsion of Ayyoub Bouaddi in the first period. With this third setback in six European matches, the Mastiffs fell from 11th to 16th position, with 9 points, while the Young Boys moved up from 26th to 19th and offered themselves the first victory in their history against a French club.
Bruno Genesio’s men also interrupt their series of four consecutive successes, after having dominated the first half hour with attempts from Bouaddi (5th), Olivier Giroud (9th) then Benjamin André (26th). But on a Bernese offensive, the 18-year-old international hopeful – so brilliant in October during the victory against AS Roma (1-0) – surrounded Alan Virginius in the area (33rd): expulsion, penalty, then yellow card for protest against Olivier Giroud.
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Berke Özer twice saved his team, by lying down on Chris Bedia’s overly crushed shot before repelling Virginius’ point-blank rebound (35th), before the Mastiffs kept their hopes alive at the start of the second half. But Giroud did not press his Madjer enough (55th), Perraud unscrewed his shot on a good counter-attack (59th), and Lille ended up cracking on a ride to the left from Virginius, taken at the near post by Darian Males (1-0, 61st).
Several hundred Lille supporters made the trip to the Swiss capital, although the match was not broadcast in France due to the presence on the Bernese jersey of a sponsor whose advertising is prohibited by French legislation. The meeting was preceded by slight incidents during the procession of visitors to the Wankdorf Stadium: the cantonal police explained on “briefly use rubber bullets” while “pyrotechnic devices” had been thrown at his agents, without causing any injuries.
