The 32nd finals of the Coupe de France
Thusday
Valenciennes (L2) – Strasbourg (L1) 0-1
Friday
Paris FC (L2) – Lyon (L1): arrested due to incidents in the stands
Saturday, December 18
(13h45) Hauts Lyonnais (N3) – SC Bastia (L2)
Troyes (L2) – Nancy (L2)
Sarre-Union (N3) – Versailles 78 (N2)
Toulouse (L2) – Nîmes (L2)
AS Panazol (R2) – Vitré (N2)
(4 p.m.) Jura Sud (N2) – Saint-Denis FC (R1)
Créteil (Nat) – Vénissieux FC (R1)
Sochaux (L2) – Nantes (L1)
JSCBA Nîmes (R2) – Clermont (L2)
Guingamp (L2) – Amiens (L2)
(18h30) AS Cannes (N3) – Dijon (L2)
Thaon (N3) – Beauvais (N2)
Lille (L1) – Auxerre (L2)
Quevilly-Rouen (L2) – Laval (Nat)
(9 p.m.) Rennes (L1) – Lorient (L1)
Sunday December 19
(13:45) Sporting Club de Lyon (Nat) – Saint-Etienne (L1)
Marseille (L1) – Cannet (N3)
Red Star (Nat) – Monaco (L1)
Bergerac (N2) – Metz (L1)
Stade Poitevin (N3) – Lens (L1)
(4 p.m.) Andrézieux-Bouthéon (N2) – Montpellier (L1)
Reims Sainte-Anne (R1) – Reims (L1)
ESA Linas-Montlhery (N3) – Angers (L1)
Wasquehal (N3) – Vannes (N2)
(18h30) Cholet (Nat) – Nice (L1)
Montauban (R2) – La Roche VF (N3)
Chauvigny (N3) – Chartres Football (N2)
Dinan Lehon (N3) – Brest (L1)
Bordeaux (L1) – Mzouazia twins (R1)
(21h10) Feignies (N3) – Paris SG (L1)
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This summer, Rennes and the Pinault family spent some 80 million euros to consolidate their European ambition. Certainly, the world champion Steven Nzonzi and the nugget Eduardo Camavinga are gone. And Jérémy Doku, injured at the end of August, has only made a few appearances since.
But these absences were largely compensated, with the exception of the recent one of Flavien Tait, the turbine of the midfielder.
Rennes in the right car in all competitions
At the end of a fiercely contested autumn, the Rouge et Noir are on the podium in L1 and qualified for the 8th finals of the Europa Conference Conference. Bruno Genesio even regretted the cancellation of the match against Tottenham last week because of an outbreak of Covid-19 at the English club.
Without a stake for Rennes, the match was an opportunity to give playing time to the eternal substitutes and to prepare for absences linked to the CAN. But the rotation will be limited on Saturday, so as not to leave the holders 10 days in the match before the trip to Monaco on Wednesday.
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Opposite, Lorient is far from these problems of the rich … After having invested a lot during its rise in the elite in the summer of 2020, the club had to reduce the wing, hit by the financial crisis linked to the measures of Huis closed sanitary facilities and the Mediapro fiasco.
Yoane Wissa has been sold to Brentford and the loans of Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea) and Andreaw Gravillon (Inter Milan) have not been extended. Pillars that the Brazilian side Igor Silva and the German central defender Moritz Jenz, the only arrivals of the summer, have not managed to forget.
At the same time, injuries piled up. At the end of November in Angers, Christophe Pélissier had to do without six potential holders who remained in the infirmary, not to mention the suspension of Jérôme Hergault, who is two red cards for six matches played this season.
If some wounded have returned, Lorient is still deprived of Jérémy Morel, an experienced central defender, and especially of his precious captain Fabien Lemoine, affected in a calf since the beginning of November and not expected before the end of January. Enough to force the coach to draw from the reserve.
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“We end up with 4 to 5 players from National 2”, noted Pélissier a few weeks ago.
Lorient plunges back into its pitfalls
Among the new faces promoted urgently, Léo Pétrot, 24-year-old central defender, played last season in Andrézieux, a National 2 team (4th div.). Samuel Loric, 21, returns from a season at Avranches (National). And Théo Le Bris, a midfielder trained at the club, already has an hour of play in L1, even before his first professional contract signed last week.
None was unworthy, but we should not expect a miracle either in a group in the midst of a crisis: after a good start to the season, Lorient remains on 11 games without a win and seven defeats in a row. And has just plunged back into the red zone, tied for 19th on points with Metz.
Despite everything, President Loïc Féry publicly maintained his support for Pélissier and the players showed on Sunday that, even quickly led, they had no intention of abdicating.
In L1 at the end of November, the Rennes attack had to wait until the last quarter of an hour to make the difference and win 2-0 at Moustoir. And Genesio warns: “They are in a negative series, but it’s another competition. For them, it’s a way out ”.
“What are we risking?” », Argues Pélissier. “It’s the Cup, it’s up to us to approach it with the idea of the little one, but we also have our arguments to make. If we go in the shoes of the victim, it is not worth it ”.
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