The new Ligue 2 season starts next weekend. This second division of French football is always higher and the future season promises to be exciting at all levels of the ranking. Several posters particularly excite us. Here are the 5 posters of the first leg of ASSE that we are waiting for the most!
ASSE – Grenoble (J1, August 5): Beware of false starts!
The kick-off of the ASSE season will be against neighboring Grenoble in Geoffroy-Guichard this Saturday. The announced objective of this new season is clear for the Greens: to play the rise in Ligue 1. From there, it seems essential for Laurent Batlles and his family to start the season well, not only to reassure themselves but also to send a strong signal to competitors, of which there are many. Especially since the preparation was not optimal. Indeed, Laurent Batlles was unable to field a standard team during friendly matches, and very few players were able to play more than 45 minutes in a single match. The last warm-up match, which was supposed to look like a dress rehearsal against Montpellier, was canceled due to an epidemic in Saint-Étienne.
During the last 2 seasons, AS Saint-Étienne has never managed to win on the first day of the championship. In 2021/2022, the Greens, then still in Ligue 1, received hake from FC Lorient. Claude Puel’s men had failed to do better than a draw (1-1). Last season, for the first day in Ligue 2 this time, the Stéphanois moved to Dijon and lost 2 goals to 1. to Gaston-Gérard.
19 Leo PETROT (asse) – 23 Anthony BRIANCON (asse) during the Ligue 2 BKT match between Saint-Etienne and Grenoble at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on October 1, 2022 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by Dave Winter/FEP/Icon Sport) – Photo by Icon sport
It’s up to Laurent Batlles and his family to ward off fate and start the season as it should and in style. Especially since the team will probably be able to count on a well-filled Cauldron, although still amputated once again from one of its two lungs, the South Kop. Indeed, the LFP announced the closure of the South for a firm match, following the use of smoke bombs during the last match of the past season against Valenciennes.
It is important to note that the faithful of the Kop Sud and in particular the Green Angels will not be able to attend the first match of the season at Geoffroy-Guichard for the 4th consecutive year:
2020/2021: In the midst of a health crisis, football stadiums are subject to spectator gauges. Only some 3,000 spectators attend the first meeting of the season against Lorient. South Kop closed. 2021/2022: The Covid crisis continues, and the control of the sanitary passes of each spectator is made compulsory at the entrance to the stadiums. The Green Angels refuse these constraints and boycott the first matches of the championship. Kop Sud open but very empty due to the absence of the GAs. 2022/2023: the first 4 meetings of the season take place behind closed doors at Geoffroy-Guichard, following the incidents that occurred on the sidelines of ASSE’s relegation against Auxerre. 2023/2024: the Kop Sud is closed for the first match of the season following the use of smoke bombs against Valenciennes on June 2, 2023.
ASSE – Ajaccio (D10, October 7): Celebrating ASSE’s 90th anniversary as it should be!
This is definitely THE highlight of the season. The date that everyone has ticked in their calendar since June 2. The match awaited by all supporters of the Greens.
This 2023/2024 season is placed by the club under the sign of the 90th anniversary of AS Saint-Étienne. For the occasion, 4 groups of supporters (Magic Fans, Green Angels, Indépendantistes Stéphanois and the Union des Supporters Stéphanois) unite to celebrate together the club that fascinates them and for which they devote themselves body and soul.
During the last game of last season against Valenciennes, the groups announced the event with large banners. The 90th anniversary of the club will be celebrated on October 7th. AC Ajaccio will be the opponent of the day (or evening) of the Greens. The party promises to be beautiful. If nothing has yet leaked or been revealed on the nature of the events and festivities, it’s a safe bet that the groups are doing things big. As they are used to.
An account has even been specially created for the occasion on the various social networks: @90ansASSE.
Happy birthday pic.twitter.com/k4liaeb4rl
— 90 YEARS ASSE (@90ansAsse) June 26, 2023
Auxerre – ASSE (J14, November 11): Time for revenge has come?
The consequences of the last confrontation between the two teams are still being felt in Forez. AS Saint-Étienne has never really recovered. The marks are still there.
But can we really talk about revenge? Because since May 29, 2022, apart from the supporters of the two teams, there are not many people left who have experienced this episode on the Saint-Etienne side in particular. Pascal Dupraz and Jean-Marc Furlan left. In Sainté, among the players on the game sheet on the evening of the return play-off, there are only 3 players left at the club today: Moueffek, Nadé and Green. By the match on November 11, there might not even be any left, depending on the turmoil of the summer transfer window.
10 Gaetan CHARBONNIER (asse) during the Ligue 2 BKT match between Saint-Etienne and Caen at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on December 30, 2022 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by Alexandre Dimou/FEP/Icon Sport)
On the Auxerre side, however, there are still many players who experienced this magical evening for them, synonymous with accession to Ligue 1. But one player will particularly attract attention during these “reunions” at Abbé Deschamps: Gaëtan Coal. The attacker who returns from the Crusaders wore the blue tunic on May 29, 2022 at Geoffroy-Guichard. On November 11, 2023, he will normally wear the green tunic. The 34-year-old striker joined the Greens last December after having a complicated first 4 months in Ligue 1 with Auxerre, it must be said that he had not been spared injuries.
Bordeaux – ASSE (J18, December 16): A historic clash, a unique match!
This confrontation is and will always remain apart. Two former glories of French football, two historic clubs, two known and recognized popular fervors. Two sacred monsters in search of a rebirth, of a new breath.
If last season, the people of Saint-Etienne were never able to deceive themselves, the Bordeaux people believed in the direct rise in L1, until the last day. This season, the situation is likely to change, and it’s a safe bet, barring an industrial disaster, that the Greens and Girondins will fight hard for a long time in the fight for accession to Ligue 1.
Equipe de football de Saint-Etienne ASSE – Equipe de football de Bordeaux FCGB during the Ligue 2 BKT match between Bordeaux and Saint Etienne at Stade Matmut Atlantique on March 4, 2023 in Bordeaux, France. (Photo by Romain Perrocheau/FEP/Icon Sport)
Next to the sporting aspect, we have to think about the stands. Last season, the coming of Bordeaux to Geoffroy-Guichard took place behind closed doors. The Saint-Etienne, on the other hand, had been able to move to Matmut Atlantique during the return match. And the atmosphere was exceptional. The Magic Fans and the Ultramarines, groups of friends for 30 years, had produced a joint animation with gigantic tifos.
Before receiving the Girondins at Geoffroy-Guichard on April 20, the Stéphanois will therefore return to the Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux. And the atmosphere once again promises to be there. We can only hope that the show is up to par on the pitch.
ASSE – Bastia (J19, December 19): Time for the first assessment!
At the end of this last meeting of the first leg, the winter break will begin, and it will then be time for a first assessment. The first 19 games of the championship will give broad indications on the continuation of the season. The Greens could be totally in the nails and concerned by the race for the first 2 places synonymous with direct accession to L1, or else totally… in the cabbage and on the pick-up.
This truce will thus make it possible to either consolidate and continue the quest for the objective set from the summer of 2022 (the rise in L2) or readjust the objectives: aim for the first 5 places for the playoffs, or in the worst case scenario: ensure quickly maintaining it.
This reception of Bastia, also promises to be a great meeting. There is a deep respect between the club of Haute-Corse and the club forezien. Last season, the first leg between the two teams was held behind closed doors at Geoffroy-Guichard. The Greens had largely won, 5-0 thanks in particular to a quadruple from Jean-Philippe Krasso, who has since left the Loire.
#anticipated #Green #games #leg
