FC Nantes will not achieve the feat of the knockout stages of the Europa League. The Canaries lost 3-0 in the second leg against Juventus. A match marked by a hat-trick from Argentinian Angel Di Maria. While the 1-1 draw snatched from the first leg a week earlier had allowed the Yellows and Greens to dream of a feat, the suspense lasted only 20 minutes, the time for the Argentinian world champion to unleash a magnificent recovery (5th) and convert a penalty (20th).
He himself finished the job with the header (78th), but the match was already over when Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez showed a red card for a handball from Pallois in the box after just over a minute. quarter of an hour of play. The Canaries had yet entered the field full of good intentions, pushed by a full and enthusiastic Beaujoire stadium despite the gusts of cold rain.
“City in fusion”
“A city in fusion, Beaujoire in eruption”, announced the tifo of the Loire Brigade, adorned with a volcano from which a few wise wisps of smoke came out, after the pyrotechnic shows of the European matches in the fall. And in the first minutes, Antoine Kombouaré’s men made the 35,000 spectators roar by pressing in front of Wojciech Szczesny’s cage, without creating a real chance.
But this forward momentum was punished almost from the first opportunity for the Turinese: on a ball lost by Moses Simon, Nicolo Faglioli served Di Maria, who found the skylight on a splendid direct recovery which lobbed Alban Lafont (0 -1, 5th). Not enough to cool the stadium, but ten minutes later, after a breakthrough from Adrien Rabiot, Di Maria performed a festival on the right of the surface and saw his shot bounce off the arm of Pallois.
“Cheating Club”
Penalty for the Argentinian and red card for the defender, released to the cheers of a stadium that chanted his name: enough to feed the regrets of Nantes fans for another 20 years, who had not yet digested the expulsion of Bruno Carotti just before half-time in the Champions League semi-final first leg in Turin in 1996.
“Club of cheating, scheming and repression, for 27 years always the same leitmotif”, denounced the Ultras of the Loire Brigade in a banner brandished at the start of the second period. In a choppy match, marked by Nantes counter-attack attempts well contained by Turinese scalded by the goal suffered in the first leg, the Bianconeri were content to manage their lead.
They created a few chances, with a header from Rabiot near the frame (27th) or a strike from Filip Kostic that the post sent back into the arms of Lafont (45th + 3). In the second half, the Nantes goalkeeper made a festival of stops, but he was behind his line on the head of Di Maria (0-3, 78th).
In the very last minutes, the Nantes people pressed again in a last stand, pushed by supporters who applauded them for a long time and allowed themselves to crack many smoke bombs, finally ignoring the threat of behind closed doors: difficult to find out when Beaujoire will return to Europe…