Disaster evening for French football: none of the three clubs involved, Thursday, February 23, in the qualifying play-offs for the knockout stages of the Europa League failed to qualify, despite the advantage of playing at home.
The cruellest disappointment came from Rennes, where Bruno Genesio’s men were still qualified a few seconds before the end of extra time, before an unfortunate own goal and then an elimination on penalties against Chakhtar Donetsk. For its part, AS Monaco was eliminated on penalties by Bayer Leverkusen, despite winning the first leg. More logically, Nantes, quickly reduced to ten, suffered the law of Juventus Turin and saw its beautiful European course come to an end.
In front of decomposed supporters at Roazhon Park, Stade Rennes missed a match within reach against Ukrainian club Chakhtar Donetsk, qualified in a particular atmosphere (2-1 ap, 5-4 pens), a year after the start of the war in Ukraine.
Rennes is scuttled
At just 18, Jeanuël Belocian was undoubtedly the most unfortunate of the Bretons, scoring against his side, in extra time, in the 119the minute, depriving his people of a qualification that was taking shape… before bursting into tears.
Beaten in the first leg (1-2), in Warsaw, the host city of Chakhtar players, in long-term exile, the Rennais had managed to force the doors of extra time thanks to a goal from Karl Toko Ekambi in the 52e minute, before glimpsing the round of 16 of the competition after that of Ibrahim Salah in the 106e minute.
But after the error of the unfortunate Belocian, the emotion swung to the Ukrainian side with a penalty shootout mastered by the imperial goalkeeper Anatoliy Trublin, author of three parades. The goalkeeper, already decisive during the 120 minutes of play, was able to celebrate this feat with the 200 or so Ukrainian refugees from the region invited by Stade Rennes, giving them heartache on the eve of the anniversary date of the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Already before the match, while the Breton ultras had deployed a huge tifo to celebrate theirs, the Ukrainian fans stretched out large flags of Ukraine, one of which bore the name of the city. of Mariupol, which came under Russian control.
The two captains for their part exchanged large bouquets of flowers, while the usual message of peace displayed by UEFA on giant screens took on a particular resonance. This message, the Chakhtar players will therefore continue to see it displayed in the stadiums of Europe in the spring. For Rennes, also eliminated from the Coupe de France, there is already more than Ligue 1.
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“It hurts, it’s hard to accept because I think we deserved the qualificationregretted Bruno Genesio, the Rennes coach. But football is sometimes cruel, you have to know how to accept it and bounce back very quickly even if you are disappointed and frustrated. »
Monaco gets overthrown
Reverse scenario for Monaco: winner in the first leg in Germany (3-2), the Monegasques suffered the return of Bayer Leverkusen before losing on penalties at home (2-3 ap, 5-3 tab). The club of the principality had not taken long to understand that the evening would be complicated; his goalkeeper, Alexander Nübel, had a shaky hand in front of Florian Wirtz who took advantage of Jeremie Frimpong’s center back, to give the advantage to the Germans (0-1, 13e).
In less than a quarter of an hour, everything had to be redone for borrowed Monegasques. Fortunately for them, the young Eliesse Ben Seghir continues to evolve at an excellent level, and provoked a penalty converted by Wissam Ben Yedder (1-1, 19e). But this goal was not going to prevent Xavi Alonso’s men from continuing to attack. Two minutes after the Azure equalizer, Exequiel Palacios, left alone at the entrance to the area, took advantage of a failed clearance to restore the advantage to Leverkusen with a powerful shot (2-1, 21e).
Despite a better controlled collective recovery after the break, AS Monaco lost once again. Bleuet Amine Adli jumped much higher than Caio Henrique to score with a header on a cross from Wirtz (3-1, 59e) and validate German domination.
The Monegasques, to whom a goal offered extra time, played their all. After a strike from Ben Yedder on the crossbar (60e), Breel Embolo pricked his head to score that all-important goal (2-3, 85e). Despite a header from Kevin Volland released by Hradecky (118e), AS Monaco failed to win in extra time.
And the penalty session was relentless… Nübel, who touched the last shot on goal from Moussa Diaby, did not repel one. While Eliot Matazo hit his on the crossbar, signing the end of the European adventure for Monaco.
Di Maria eliminates Nantes
No miracle for Nantes: while the draw (1-1) snatched from the first leg at Juventus Turin had allowed the Yellows and Greens to dream of a feat, the suspense only lasted twenty minutes, enough time for the Argentinian world champion Angel Di Maria to unleash a magnificent recovery (5e) and convert a penalty (20e).
He himself finished the work of the head (78e) for a dry score of 3-0, but the match was already folded when the Spanish referee, Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez, showed a red card for a handball by Nantes defender Nicolas Pallois in the Canaries penalty area after barely more than a quarter of an hour of play.
The people of Nantes had however entered the field full of good intentions, pushed by a full and enthusiastic Beaujoire stadium despite the gusts of cold rain. 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.
“We were not up to the event, there is nothing to say”, slammed the Nantes coach, Antoine Kombouaré.
In the very last minutes, the Canaries pressed in a last stand, pushed by supporters who applauded them for a long time and allowed themselves to crack many smoke bombs, ignoring the threat of behind closed doors: difficult to know when the Beaujoire will return to Europe…