OGC Nice will not be in the Champions League next season. Defeated by Stade Rennais in the penultimate matchday of Ligue 1, the team was not up to the level.
There are matches that unmask and reveal the true mental resources of a team. Maybe not the whole team, but certainly a large number of the players who compose it. This is what could be detected in this last away game of the season for the team, missed against Rennes. An opponent yet booed at the beginning of the match by its own supporters, due to a lackluster season. But that didn’t prevent the Rennais from dominating a sloppy and ineffective Nice team. From this Nice team that was soaring above its opponents (as against PSG), we saw nothing of the sort. Absolutely nothing to the great regret of the 200 Nice fans present at Roazhon Park, who probably believed more than some players.
The certainty of having reached their limits?
It’s as if they had come to the certainty that they could not do any better in this frantic race towards the Champions League that had been within their reach for a few weeks already. Is it due to inexperience, or did the prize seem too big to digest? In any case, if we are wrong about their convictions, we cannot be wrong about their inefficiency in key moments of the match. Reacting when pinned down is something learned in football school and even in life itself! But unfortunately, the Nice team turned their backs on the challenge of the Champions League this season.
The Rennais, logically
The Rennais logically took the upper hand over Nice with a committed start to the match that quickly turned in favor of the locals, thanks to a close-range strike by Kalimuendo served by Brassier after good work by Blas (1-0, 15th minute). A goal that forced the Aiglons to react, but the post repelled a header by Mendy while Samba perfectly stretched on a cross-shot by Bouanani, increasingly confident. A lack of effectiveness that SRFC took advantage of since Cissé thought he doubled the lead with a brilliant curled shot into the opposite corner before the goal was annulled for a foul by Kalimuendo on Boudaoui.
In the second half, we found the Algerian international in the opponent’s box. He won a penalty for a foul by Rouault but the VAR signaled offside at the start of the action. Certainly involved in every play and perhaps the best Nice player up to that point, Boudaoui eventually lost a fatal ball that allowed Kalimuendo, served by Matusiwa, to score a brace (2-0, 80th minute).
Hopes dashed, but promising for the future
The hopes of the Nice team vanished with this second killer goal that showed the limits of OGC Nice to rise to the level of the main contenders for the podium. The Champions League is not yet a culture in the Nice house. It is up to the leaders to give themselves the means to grow a little more. Considering the season, with its ups and downs, frankly, there have been misses, but one should not be too greedy and forget that this team has exceeded all expectations, despite the shortcomings. Promising for the future, if managed better. Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater!
Nacym Djender
Franck Haise: “We are in construction, we are not playing for the title”
“First of all, there’s a good opponent. There’s also efficiency. Rennes was more efficient. We’re not far. We put a lot of generosity. The three changes were to pose difficulties to the Rennais. Not everything had to be discarded at halftime.”
“We are not ultra-dominant this season. We are lucky to be 4th despite tons of injuries. I’m not going to say we’re happy to be here, but I think it a little bit. We missed key turns when we are 4th. We are in construction. We are not playing for the title.”
