AS Saint-Étienne has no choice. On Sunday evening, the Greens again dropped three points in the derby against Olympique Lyonnais on the 27th day of Ligue 1 Conforama (2-0 defeat). Sixteenth with 29 points, the club from Stéphane will have to put the turbo to go up in the classification when there are only eleven days of championships. Everything is still possible, but the Greens will have to chain successes to avoid the worst, that is to say Ligue 2. For a few weeks, the residents of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium have hardly advanced. In 2020, of the eight games played in L1, ASSE lost 6, with a single draw and a victory. It dates back to January 25 against Nîmes (2-1), more than a month ago.
If we go back a step further, after the victory over Nice on December 4, the Greens, who had a few injured, achieved a series of a single victory in 11 games of the French championship. In jeopardy, the Stéphane monument was also agitated behind the scenes with the sidelining of its number one goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier, in conflict with his trainer. Not enough to help therefore in a club which is dangerously flirting with the red zone. Mathieu Debuchy’s teammates have only two small points ahead of their two pursuers, Dijon and Nîmes (27 points). On the other hand, the advance points mattress seems sufficient, for the moment, on Amiens (19th, 22 points) and Toulouse (20th, 13 points).
A complex calendar for the Greens
However, the rest of the program promises to be tough for the Greens, who will however have the advantage of playing six times at home and four times outside. They will cross paths with Bordeaux (28th day), Monaco (29th), Strasbourg (30th), Rennes (32nd), PSG (33rd), Lille (36th) or Nice (37th). Better-ranked teams, most of which are in the running for a European place. They will also face teams that play, like them, their survival. ASSE will face Toulouse (31st), Amiens (35th) and Dijon (38th). Suffice to say that the Loire club should not be missed to avoid the dams, or even a relegation. After the meeting, Claude Puel did not hide disappointment, he who wants his team to quickly look up.
“There’s always a lot of disappointment after a loss but there’s no other way but to go ahead. We have to prepare well for our semi-final of the Coupe de France and use our last matches to better start the matches. Suffering like we did in the first half is not possible “. His attacker, Loïs Diony, abounded in his sense. “There will still be very important matches, whether in Ligue 1 or the Coupe de France from Thursday. We’re united. Now we have to get results. (…) We try to do everything as the staff and the coach ask us. After, it is played on small details. We will do everything to change the situation ”. After the semi-final of the Coupe de France against Rennes on Wednesday, ASSE will be able to start its commando mission in L1 with the reception of Bordeaux next Saturday at 8 p.m.