Football: relegated Nîmes Olympique faces the champion, Red Star, to escape the red zone

Hamza Sbaï and the Crocodiles must not miss the opportunity to leave the red zone, this Monday in a delayed match. Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

National/31st day/This Monday, April 29 at 9 p.m. A draw would allow Nîmes Olympique to escape the relegation zone. But it’s the champion, the Red Star, who presents himself to the Antonins…

For Nîmes Olympique, the week ended better than it started. On Tuesday, the Orléans-Lamgahez affair broke out, which may not be one and which could deflate quickly (read the box). Still, that day, the Crocodiles had a bad evening. On the other hand, they had a perfect Friday.

Favorable results

The results of the 31st day could not have been more favorable to the Gardois. NO was 13th, tied with 12th and first non-relegation place, before the weekend's matches. This Monday, without having played, NO is 14th, still tied with 12th, now Avranches.

Châteauroux (11th), Villefranche (12th), Marignane (14th) and Goal FC (15th), direct and main competitors for maintenance, all lost. Leaving Avranches (16th), winner in Villefranche, to return to the race. Consequence: a small draw for the Nîmes, this Monday, would have major consequences in the ranking, since it would allow them to leave the red zone three matches before the end of this infernal National.

Adil Hermach : "It's up to us to do the job, now"

"Yes, it would be important to come out of this, even with just one point, but we'll try to take three, hopes for coach Adil Hermach. Especially since in the event of a tie, the particular goal-average (which is authentic in this championship, Editor's note)is not too favorable to us with our rivals. And yes, Friday's results suit us well, but the hardest part remains: it's up to us to do the job, now."

The crocodile group for the match and an update on the Lamgahez affair

The 16 Nîmois. Paradowski (l.), Sbaï, Diallo, Diouf, Mendy (cap), Sacko, Lemaangr, Doukansy, Picouleau, Mexico, Camara, Thoumin, Khalid, Mbemba, Mbina and Doucouré.

Les absents. Dias (l.), Paviot, Burner, Labonne (reprise), Sané (adductors), Ondoa (l.), Cozzella (l.), Sy, Lamgahez, Delpech, Wade, Laurens, Ngakoutou (choice).

The Lamgahez affair and the pride of from the coach. Pending the judgment of the Federal Commission for Regulations and Litigation, this Tuesday, Nîmes will not field Zakary Lamgahez this Monday evening. And this, even if NO has "confidence in what is éwritten in the texts", has pre" eac;cis&eac; Hermach, while indicating that "the only reason for the non-selection of “Zak”, is the return of Formosa (Mendy, central defender), and nothing else.

Finally, the coach added: that he was "proud of his group in terms of performance. his reaction in relation to the controversy: the next day, they had the best session since I've been here! This shows a lot of maturity".

And the task promises to be complicated: on the other hand, it will also be red, with a Red Star which has flown through the season, already promoted to Ligue 2 and already crowned. The new coach of the Crocos pros is admiring and impressed: "Realize, they won the championship, and there are four days left! They were clearly above, well done to them. They have nothing left to play for, which may be positive or negative for us. I hear some saying they might disperse. But when you play without pressure and relax, everything can also succeed…hellip; They will celebrate their rise. As for us, we have to play to save the club.

At Antonins, NO does well against the big guys. But here, it’s a very big…

A reason for hope: during a generally unsuccessful season, Nîmes did well against the big names at Antonins. Successes against Niort (3rd), Nancy (5th) and Rouen (7th), draws against Martigues (2nd), Le Mans (4th) and Dijon (6th). "It’s true, we had less problems at home against the big guys but here, we are playing a very big one, Hermach nuance. Which caused us a lot of problems on the way out."

Reda Hammache was also down two divisions, but he moved up

This is also true: the Gardois had been overtaken in December at Bauer (0-2) by the club led sportingly by Reda Hammache, also down two divisions after his departure of NO. But who will return to L2 before the Crocodiles who will already try not to go down to N2. To do this, this week promises to be crucial, with the Lamgahez case judged on Tuesday then the trip to Chasselay against Goal on Friday. It would be nice if it started like the previous one ended.

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