“Nantes FC aims for historic French Cup double – reactions from players and former player Yves Deroff”

FC Nantes could experience a new historic double in the Coupe de France this Saturday (April 29), as in 1999 and 2000. A repeated performance that only PSG has already achieved. The Canaries, defending champions, face Toulouse in a sold-out Stade de France: 80,000 supporters, including a good half, at least, in Yellow and Green. More than fifty coaches will leave the City of Dukes on Saturday morning in the direction of the capital, others left by bike from Beaujoire on Wednesday morning, Joris and Kevin.

Players ready to switch to “French Cup“

On the ground, however, it is not the club for the big days: the Nantes players are in great difficulty in the league, on the edge of the red zone and the descent into Ligue 2 six days from the end. But midfielder Samuel Moutoussamy, at the microphone of Simon Reungoat, is ready to switch to “Coupe de France” mode! “We are hot of course, we do not have the results we want in the league but this season, we have managed to get out each time with the Cup (of France or Europe). We are going to put ourselves in “Coupe de France” mode: we have this notion of surpassing ourselves, of making extra efforts, of fighting even more, of doing more intense races, of coming back more quickly, etc. These are values ​​that you have to keep, that’s what you have to rely on.. and it is also the fact of being able to make big matches in the Coupe de France, which can bring us a certain degree of confidence in the league, and for this end of the season which is going to be very complicated. We will give everything to try to snatch this victory.”

For midfielder Florent Mollet, we will have to be wary of Toulouse, even if it is not the most prestigious opponent, “They’re a very good team and they shouldn’t be taken lightly. They have a pretty strong championship for a team that has just risen. They have great players and it’s a team that plays the ball well. For set pieces, we know that they have a very good shooter and… that they also have midfielders who can put the ball where they want. Toulouse may not be Paris or Monaco, but they are a very good team. I think it’s 50-50 if we do the same kind of performance that we could do against Lyon or Lens, we put a lot of advantages in our favor. It has to be done on Saturday and I hope that at 11-11:30 p.m. we will all have our eyes full of tears or joy to celebrate (the trophy!)”

For striker Ludovic Blas, his team is struggling but can rely on the successful semi-final against Lyon. “We can cling to our performance in the Cup, or to Lyon’s match in the semi-finals. I think it’s a reference match: we were solid defensively and I think that’s the key. We go through several emotions: right now it’s complicated, but it’s in these moments, where we see the warriors. It is in these moments that we will see the state of mind of this team (…) I think that outside (the field) they need that, because these are complicated times and it would be good for everyone.

The French Cup final will be held this Saturday April 29, 2023, between Nantes and Toulouse at the Stade de France, from 9 p.m. Two giant screens will be installed in Nantes to follow the match on the Saint-Pierre and Saint-André courses, but in the event of victory there will be no festivities, that will wait for the maintenance!

To follow the pre-match on social networks, with the colleagues of the podcast “Without Control“. The show Cup West was devoted to this final on Thursday evening, with Katell Lagré and former player Yves Deroff: the podcat can be found here!

Red card for Emmanuel Macron

For this meeting, a substantial police device is planned: President Emmanuel Macron must attend, as is the tradition, but the authorities fear that he will be copiously heckled by opponents of the pension reform. Many red leaflets, on which will be written “Red card to retire at 64”, and several thousand whistles should be distributed by the unions, near the Stade de France. They will be used to “welcome” the Head of State when he appears, or at the 49th minute and 30 seconds of the match (in reference to the use of 49.3).