Three days after their feat against Ajax, OGC Nice begins their season at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne.
AS Saint-Étienne experienced a significant change over the summer. Indeed, Christophe Galtier, the club’s long-serving coach, left his position after nine seasons. He was replaced by the Spaniard Oscar Garcia. The latter is not unknown to the ‘Gym’ as he was, until last season, the coach of Red Bull Salzburg. Therefore, he crossed paths with the ‘Gym’ in the Europa League.
On the field, Loïs Diony, Assane Dioussé, and Saidy Janko are the main summer signings of the club. Meanwhile, Jonathan Bamba has returned from his loan at Angers.
On the other hand, Kévin Malcuit joined LOSC, Nolan Roux moved to FC Metz, Benjamin Corgnet left for Strasbourg, Neal Maupay is trying his luck at Brentford, and Fabien Lemoine went to lend a hand to Lorient in Ligue 2. Finally, Jorginho and Pierre-Yves Polomat have been loaned out.
THE ABSENTEES
On the Saint-Étienne side, Florentin Pogba, Kevin Monnet-Paquet, and Vincent Pajot are injured. Jérémy Clément is not in the squad, along with Habib Maïga, Arnaud Nordin, and Alexander Söderlund.
The Nice team will be without Jean-Michaël Seri (suspended), Mario Balotelli (injured), and Mickaël Le Bihan (recovery).
THE SAINT-ÉTIENNE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Maisonnial, Ruffier, Moulin
Defenders: Théophile-Catherine, Lacroix, Mbengué, Janko, Perrin, Pierre-Gabriel
Midfielders: Dabo, Dioussé, Selnaes, Rocha Santos, Souici
Forwards: Diony, Tannane, Bamba, Hamouma, Beric.
THE NICE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Cardinale, Benitez.
Defenders: Souquet, Le Marchand, Sarr, Jallet, Dalbert, Dante.
Midfielders: Tameze, Lees-Melou, Eysseric, Walter, Marcel, Koziello, Makengo.
Forwards: Srarfi, Plea, Mahou
WORDS, WORDS…
Lucien Favre: “The match on Wednesday (Champions League qualifier) is behind us; we now have to focus on the game this weekend. We don’t have time to relish it. The championship is starting, we must get back into the swing of things, and it won’t be easy. There was a significant energy expenditure against Ajax, and there will inevitably be some changes.”
