In recent weeks, Red Bull Salzburg has been smiling at the French teams. In football, first, Lille obtained, on November 23, its first home victory in the Champions League since 2006 against the Austrian club. Especially, the next day, in ice hockey, the Rouen Dragons won their place in the quarterfinals of the CHL (Champions Hockey League), despite their defeat in Austria (3-1), thanks to their large first leg victory. (3-0). Tuesday, December 7 (6 p.m.), they travel to Tempere (Finland) to face the Tappara club for the first leg (return on December 14).
Arrived safely at destination ?? ? !!! Training on the small ice on D-1 before the quarter-final first leg of… https://t.co/ySMCOELGUl
The performance of Rouen hockey players is by no means anecdotal. On the contrary, it is historic for French hockey, since it is quite simply the first time that a French team has reached the quarter-finals of the biggest European club competition. “I’ve been president of this club for twenty-five years, never had I thought about it, it was so unattainable, admits Thierry Chaix. This is historic and I’m not sure it will happen again anytime soon. After the game, the players were on cloud nine. “” In the locker room, we all helped each other achieve what we had just done, confirms French defender and international Florian Chakiachvili (29). It is one of the defining moments in a career. “
If this performance is so out of the ordinary, it is because the two clubs do not really play in the same court. When the Austrians landed in Normandy by private plane in the first leg, the Rouen Dragons crossed Europe by bus. Only the staff made the trip by commercial plane to leave more room for the players in the bus for this long journey. “An obstacle course”, summarizes Thierry Chaix. A difference between the two clubs also illustrated by the abysmal gap between the budgets: 3.5 million euros for Rouen, or about four times less than Salzburg, according to the Norman president.
A culture of the European Cup
Unlike the continental scale where it is still a Petit Poucet figure, Rouen represents the historic French hockey club par excellence. With 16 national titles, the Dragons monopolize second place behind Chamonix, whose last of their 30 coronations dates back to 1979. At the European level, the Rouen people play the pioneers. “We have this culture of the European Cup, these are competitions that we know how to prepare well, understand well, we are no longer afraid”, slide Thierry Chaix.
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