Ligue 1 – Before Lens-Nantes: Ludovic Blas, timely awakening

“I asked him to stay high, to be on the finish, which he did wonderfully well, rejoiced Antoine Kombouaré, the coach of the FCN. He allowed us to keep hope for this second leg.” With this achievement, the former Guingampais confirmed the importance he has for his team. Last Sunday, already, he had offered the victory to the Canaries against Lorient (1-0). Also a scorer in Montpellier (0-3) and Ajaccio (0-2) in previous weeks, Blas is obviously the strongman of the current thirteenth in Ligue 1.

Departure canceled and Kombouaré warning

However, that has not always been the case this season, far from it. Long announced on the departure during the summer transfer window, the Nantes number 10 finally learned at the end of August that he would not leave the banks of the Loire. Too bad for Lille, who were waiting for his arrival. Too bad for him, too? No, apparently. “In any case, I was going to be happy, because frankly, we are not going to lie to each other, here we are good, there is the European Cup and everything”assured the person concerned The Teamafter having learned of the decision of its leaders to keep it.

But in fact, his first part of the exercise was more than sluggish, the native of Colombes seeming light years from the level which was his in 2021-22. So much so that Kombouaré sent him a clear warning by no longer systematically establishing him. “Today, Ludo is not at his level, we must not be afraid of words, had even let go of the Kanak technician at the beginning of October. In aggressiveness, the ability to want to take the ball and make a difference… Ludo, last year, was the player who dribbled the most in Europe. Today, there is no more dribbling.”

The man who can light the fuse

Blas therefore needed more time than expected to digest his aborted transfer to LOSC and fully focus on the Nantes project. His return to form coincides with the resumption of the post-World Championship. A blessing for Nantes, which does not really shine with its offensive efficiency in 2022-23 (15th attack, with 24 goals scored in 23 days) and has not yet been able to benefit from the contribution of its rookie Andy Delort, in search of landmarks. In this context, the vision of the game of the middle of 25 years and his technical quality in the zone of truth are thus essential to his team.

And all the more so since the yellow house is at a pivotal moment in its season. After the perilous trip scheduled for Lens this Sunday (5:05 p.m.) – an opponent that Nantes will also face in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France in early March -, it will be necessary to prepare as well as possible for the long-awaited return leg against Juve on Thursday. A gala evening, during which the public of La Beaujoire will only ask to be able to ignite. At Bollaert as in C3, we can count on Ludovic Blas to be the one who will try to light the fuse.