NEWSLETTER LIGUE 1 CONFORAMA Week 2 review: Mbappé takes Paris top, Nîmes stun OM World Cup-winning superstar Kylian Mbappé came off the bench to score twice in the 3-1 win over Guingamp that took PSG into top spot just as arch-rivals OM were stunned by the same scoreline away to promoted Nîmes. Barely back from holidays following his key role in France's world Cup win, teenage superstar Kylian Mbappé made a triumphant return to Ligue 1 Conforama as he came off the bench to help Paris Saint-Germain - still minus Edinson Cavani, Marco Verratti and Layvin Kurzawa -out of a bind after they had gone a goal down to Antoine Kombouaré's side. Only VAR had stopped the extremely game home side from going 2-0 up, Nicolas Benezet's strike ruled out for a foul (25'), and while Neymar Jr levelled things with his second of the season, from the spot (53'), it was Mbappé's star turn that saw him spring the off-side trap and finish clinically on two occasions late on (82', 90') to clinch the points and send his side to the top of the table. "We won, we celebrated, but football continues. My career is starting and I have very high ambitions, be it with PSG, France or individually. You don't have the time to hang around doing nothing," Mbappé said of his emphatic return to Ligue 1 Conforama before addressing what pundits see as his possibly eclipsing a certain Brazilian superstar. "There are a lot of stars. Neymar is a superstar, more than me. He worked a lot at Barcelona for that. With a goal and an assist, he didn't do too badly either. I tried to contribute what I can and help the team win." Meanwhile, PSG's arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille also faced a stiff test away to a much smaller club - promoted Nîmes Olympique - but this time there was no fight-back by the heavy hitters, who lost 'keeper Steve Mandanda to injury (65'). In fact, it was quite the opposite as Les Crocodiles out-ran, out-tackled and ultimately out-scored OM to clinch a dream 3-1 win against their biggest local rivals - in the second match of their promotion season. "We need to prove that we belong in Ligue 1 Conforama. The points were important but the way we played was even more so. But it doesn't stop here. This win is good for the players as it proves to them what they are capable of," said delighted but still circumspect coach Bernard Blaquart, whose opposite number Rudi Garcia was understandably downbeat. "This was an evening we'd rather forget. We failed. I knew we weren't at 100 per cent but that was just unacceptable. We absolutely have to win our next match." The win - Nîmes' second in as many matches following the thrilling 4-3 beating of Angers in Week 1 - took them second, level on six points with fellow promotees Stade de Reims, who kicked the weekend off by stunning Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 thanks to Pablo Chavarria's lone strike (32'). "It was a difficult victory but one that we built towards. We played well in the first half, combining tactical discipline with a desire to hurt the opposition," said Reims coach David Guion. "This confirms our good result at Nice [1-0 in Week 1]. For a promoted side, to have six points out of six is marvellous and so we are savouring this. We know we need to be tactically disciplined. We need to defend well in order to attack well." So too Dijon made it two from two with a 2-0 win over Miguel Cardoso's FC Nantes, club captain and all-time top-scorer Julio Tavares bagging a brace to put his side third and keep Les Canaris - who lost Abdoulaye Touré to a red card with 12 minutes to go - pointless and propping up the table after two rounds. After an impressive 3-1 win in Nantes in Week 1, AS Monaco slipped to fifth thanks to their scoreless draw at home to LOSC - captain Radamel Falcao missing a second-half penalty - while RC Strasbourg Alsace also slipped as they conceded a late equaliser to ten-man Saint-Etienne (Neven Subotic saw red in the 18th minute), Makhtar Gueye lashing home with two minutes to go. 08/24/2018 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2018/2019 - Ligue1.com 1
Toulouse registered their first win of the season by claiming Garonne derby bragging rights with 2-1 win over Bordeaux, who suspended coach Gustavo Poyet two days before the clash, while Rennes claimed Brittany derby honours 1-0 over Angers thanks to a sublime strike from rising star Ismaila Sarr. France 98 World Cup winner Patrick Vieira got his first point as a Ligue 1 Conforama coach as his OGC Nice side earned a 1-1 draw away to SM Caen, and Montpellier had superb strikes from Florent Mollet and Ellyes Skhiri to thank for their 2-1 win away to still-pointless Amiens SC. Week 2 reactions - Garcia: 'We failed' Olympique de Marseille boss Rudi Garcia was not a happy man after his side were stunned 3-1 away promoted Nîmes, whose coach Bertrand Blaquart felt his side showed their top-flight credentials. Sunday, August 19, 2018 Nîmes Olympique 3-1 Olympique de Marseille Bernard Blaquart (Nîmes Olympique coach): "It's reassuring. I was happy with a lot of things. We were even more solid in defence than we were against Angers [a 4-3 win in Week 1]. Over and above the result, we needed to show that we can mix it with Ligue 1 Conforama sides and, even though OM weren't at 100 per cent, this was very reassuring. We need to prove that we belong in Ligue 1 Conforama. The points were important but the way we played was even more so. But it doesn't stop here. We'll see how things go in the longer term. It seems a deserved win; our wide players did the damage but the whole squad deserves congratulations. This win is good for the players as it proves to them what they are capable of. But then again, in a week's time we could be terrible." Rudi Garcia (Olympique de Marseille coach): "This was an evening we'd rather forget. It has been a good long while since we played so poorly. We were beaten in terms of aggression. We failed. Nîmes deserved their win; they had the desire and the cutting edge. We lacked rhythm and couldn't string together three passes in the first half. Meanwhile, we copped wave after wave of attacks and barely won a challenge. I knew we weren't at 100 per cent but that was just unacceptable. We absolutely have to win our next match." Toulouse FC 2-1 Girondins de Bordeaux Alain Casanova (Toulouse coach): "The most important thing is the victory. It is good for our supporters to win the derby. There were things I liked in the performance. We showed a desire to play even if we are still a bit fearful. We showed a positive attitude. We still need to progress in certain areas but in the end I am a satisfied coach. That said, this is still just three points and we will be judged over the duration. Let's see if we are up to it." Eric Bedouet (Bordeaux interim coach): "We needed to kill the game in the first half when we had the chance. That's football - when you don't do it, you get punished. This was better than our performance against Strasbourg (a 2-0 defeat on the opening weekend), but we are not managing to put a run of results together. There is still work to be done, but we are struggling playing every three days, with the European games." RC Strasbourg Alsace 1-1 AS Saint-Etienne Thierry Laurey (Strasbourg coach): "It is infuriating that we were not able to be rigorous through to the 93rd minute. There were little details that cost us dear but these are just things we need to put right. We had the three points in our grasp and then from their only chance in the second half, Saint-Etienne scored. It is frustrating because we had done everything right against a really good team. The boys gave everything so I cannot reproach them for anything. Sometimes I would like to have a little more depth on the bench. It hurts to drop two points, but there are still a lot of matches left. If we had been told at the start of the season we might have four points from two matches, we would have taken that straight away." Jean-Louis Gasset (Saint-Etienne coach): "It took courage, self-sacrifice and also talent to get a point down to 10 men and in 30 degree heat. We suffered but we kept believing until the end. We knew we would get three or four chances on the break and we converted one. We have a team who 08/24/2018 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2018/2019 - Ligue1.com 2
are allergic to losing. We started with four attacking players on the field because we wanted to win. But the sending-off obliged me to become more defensive. But we defended well and (Stéphane) Ruffier made several saves. (Makhtar) Gueye is a young forward who has been working with us since the start of the season because of the injury to (Robert) Beric. He lived up to our expectations. He has athletic qualities, hunger and if he still a lot of suppleness in his game, he is quite handy in front of goal." Saturday, August 18, 2018 EA Guingamp 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain Antoine Kombouaré (Guingamp coach): "There's two disappointments, the first is the first half where we could have gone in at the break 2-0 up. It was the referee's opinion, and it went against us. And the second disappointment is to have conceded too soon. I had asked them to be vigilant, disciplined, that we not concede in the first 15 minutes. The fact they scored so soon was a real blow. And after that, you could see we had put a lot of effort into the first half and didn't have enough left in the tank for the second, and their precision and above all the talent of Kylian [Mbappé], along with that of Neymar, hurt us a lot and they were able to score the three goals. We won the first half, they the second. My players did what I expected of them." Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain coach): "The first half was very difficult because we weren't ready for this match. Guingamp are a quality side and played with a lot of intensity. They are very tough to play at home. We were very happy to still be in the game at half-time, because we could have conceded three goals. In the second half, we changed mentality. We had to change and we did, so I'm happy about that. It was a great fight-back." Stade Rennais FC 1-0 Angers SCO Sabri Lamouchi (Rennes coach): "There were good things at the start of the game. We just lacked precision in the final ball, the final shot. You have to remember Angers came here to reassure themselves, and they almost managed to succeed. We needed a great performance from our captain, André. We made changes to win the game. It's deserved, and it was also for Sarr, who won it with a great piece of individual flair. We suffered, it was tough, but my players were great." Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "The players did what they had to do, but it wasn't enough. Like with the fourth goal last week, the ball was deflected again. We have to take it on the chin, we were good in what we did. Rennes struggled to break us down, we got our style back, but it wasn't enough. We have improvements to make: we didn't get a shot on target. I liked the attitude. We didn't give anything to our opponents, they were obliged to dig deep to get their win. I was more annoyed last weekend. This time, I'm more frustrated given what we did. We already went through a bad spell three years ago, but we managed to get out of it." Amiens SC 1-2 Montpellier Hérault SC Christophe Pélissier (Amiens coach): "We lost, but not everything was bad. The squad fought back so that they didn't sink after going 2-0 down. We lost because we weren't effective up front. I have been saying it for some time now: we're lacking at least two attackers. When you lose three of your four forwards in the close season, it's not good. You don't need to be a genuis. We absolutely need players who replace what we lost. It's vital for us." Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "Overall, we defended well as a team even if we could have used our possession better. I liked the way our three forwards were complementary with each other, they had good movement and passed the ball well. This evening, we were much more compact." Dijon FCO 2-0 FC Nantes Olivier Dall'Oglio (Dijon coach): "Six points in two matches, it's an excellent start to the season. Against Nantes, a team against which it's tough to have possession, it was a difficult game. I had asked my team to be active very quickly, and we scored very quickly. We had a good number of chances and Nantes didn't really put us in danger. I was also happy with that, because I'd asked us to play deep. As for Julio Tavares, he again did the trick, he's clinical and very useful for the team." Miguel Cardoso (Nantes coach): "We can't be happy with this result. We controlled the first half, the second not so well. But against a Dijon team that 08/24/2018 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2018/2019 - Ligue1.com 3
is almost the same as last season, it's tough. We almost had no chances and didn't get a shot on target. We weren't able to go deep, our use the space to create chances. But you mustn't forget that players like Boschilia and Waris arived just ten or 12 days ago. We are a new team with new players. We're going to keep working on our project." AS Monaco 0-0 LOSC Leonardo Jardim (Monaco coach): "I've been in football a long time, I didn't come into football by helicopter just last week. I had said this team would be difficult to play against. Sometimes, Lille were on top, other times it was us. The penalty could have changed the game. The 0-0 was a fair result. The team made a few bad passes. They need time, experience, to improve and better control the game. We tried to control the game. We tried with Jovetic as a number ten, but, well. With Golovin or Adama [Traoré], it'll be different. The team didn't play badly, they didn't play well either." Christophe Galtier (Lille coach): "It's always a good point when you get a draw at Monaco. And it's a good point because we played well. We showed the desire to play and attack. It was more and more open in the first half and I thought we were going to open the scoring, but we lacked aggression up front, we had one or two touches too many before shooting. We were less unselfish against Rennes. After that, things evened out. Leo [Jardim] reorganised the way his team brought theball out and Grandsir caused us problems. Mike made the save of the game by stopping the penalty, a deserved penalty. He made the difference. We had some good situations near the end, but their goalkeeper kept them out." SM Caen 1-1 OGC Nice Fabien Mercadal (Caen coach): "There are reasons to be satisfied with how we played, regrets about the result, we would have deserved to win. We opened the scoring a little late, we had to use a lot of energy to do that, and found ourselves on the back foot a bit for a time. We were a little less organised defensively, we dipped physically. But even after the blow of the equaliser, we managed to create a big chance at the end of the game." Patrick Vieira (Nice coach): "It's a deserved point, I'm happy to leave for Nice with this result. We tried to play, even if it was difficult to create chances against a well organised team which didn't give us a lot of space. We didn't give up. By going with three defenders after the hour mark, we wanted to have more. Ganogo gave us more presence in front of goal when he came on. We lacked concentration in the fist half, we lost the ball too many times, too relaxed, not disciplined enough. We need a clinical streak, that's something we have to work on. It was important to react, it's a good reward for the players, who put in a lot of effort. We suffered in the final third, but there were also some good things." Friday, August 17, 2018 Stade de Reims 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais David Guion (Reims coach): "It was a difficult victory but one that we built towards. We played well in the first half, combining tactical discipline with a desire to hurt the opposition. I thought we deserved to be in front. In the second half we suffered because we were unable to keep the ball and lacked verticality. But we still tried to get forward and we had clear chances, even if Lyon created chances too. This confirms our good result at Nice. For a promoted side, to have six points out of six is marvellous and so we are savouring this. We know we need to be tactically disciplined. We need to defend well in order to attack well." Bruno Genesio (Lyon coach): "I am disappointed with the defeat but not with how the team played. We knew Reims would be well organised defensively, sitting deep. We conceded a goal from one of their two chances. We lacked pace and were not direct enough to surprise a side who were so well organised at the back. We tried everything, we never gave up, but we lacked a bit of spontaneity, a bit of spark when we had the ball. We didn't get in behind their defence enough. It was going forward where we not good enough, it wasn't to do with the system. We came up against a good Reims side, who have carried on the dynamic that took them to promotion and played just as well last weekend at Nice. We couldn't find the solution." 08/24/2018 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2018/2019 - Ligue1.com 4
TRANSFERS: Balotelli to stay at OGC Nice OGC Nice announced on Monday evening that Mario Balotelli will be staying with the Côte d'azur club. The Italy international striker has scored 33 Ligue 1 Conforama goals for Les Aiglons since his arrival in the summer of 2016. There will be a third season at Nice for Mario Balotelli. The south-coast club made the news official by posting video of Nintendo character Super Mario - Balotelli's nickname - on their social media platforms. The 28-year-old informed the club's directors that he wished to continue with Les Aiglons and, on Monday night, an agreement was signed by all parties. Suspended for the first three rounds of the 2018-19 Ligue 1 Conforama season, Balotelli will be eligible to return to action for Nice's Week 4 trip to Olympique Lyonnais on Friday, 31 August. The Italy striker, who arrived at the club in the summer of 2016, has scored 33 goals in 55 Ligue 1 Conforama appearances for OGC Nice over the last two seasons. In all competitions, his tally rises to 43 goals in 66 matches in the red and black shirt - form that saw him earn a recall to the Italy squad in June 2018. Kombouaré extends Guingamp deal EA Guingamp coach Antoine Kombouaré, who arrived at the club in the summer of 2016, has signed a one-year contract extension and is now linked to the club through to 2020, the Brittany club has announced. Kombouaré, the most experienced of Ligue 1 Conforama's 20 current coaches, has just extended his deal with EA Guingamp. The 54-year-old tactician is now linked to the club for an extra season - through to June 2020 - following the show of faith from the Brittany club's directors, who evidently feel his first two seasons in charge have been successes. "Anyone who knows football well knows the importance of the relationship between a club president and his coach for the club's functioning, its success, solidity, effectiveness and solidarity. For all these excellent reasons, I'm very happy to announce the prolongation of Kombouaré's contract through to 2020," declared EA Guingamp president Bertrand Desplat. "I believe he is the man for the job. In sporting terms, everyone knows the career he has had as a player and a coach. And everyone can see how much progress EAG has made over the past two seasons." En Avant de Guingamp is the sixth club coached by Antoine Kombouaré, who plied his trade as a player notably for FC Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain. The New Caledonian began his coaching career with RC Strasbourg in 2003 before moving on to Valenciennes FC, PSG, Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia), RC Lens and then, since the summer of 2016, EAG. Under his charge, the Brittany club has finished tenth and 12th, with an average of 1.28 points per match. Kombouaré is the most experienced top-flight coach in Ligue 1 Conforama at the moment, with 372 matches under his belt. As a coach, Kombouaré won the Coupe de France with PSG in 2010 as well as the Domino's Ligue 2 title with VAFC in 2006. He also coached RC Lens to promotion to Ligue 1 Conforama in 2014. 08/24/2018 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2018/2019 - Ligue1.com 5
TRANSFERS: Denayer bolsters OL backline Olympique Lyonnais have announced the arrival of Belgium defender Jason Denayer, 23, from Manchester City on a four-year deal worth a reported 6.5m Euros. After being in the hunt for a central defender for some time, Olympique Lyonnais have announced that Belgium stopper Jason Denayer has signed with the seven-time champions. The 23-year-old left Manchester City for a four-year deal at the Groupama Stadium. "Jason is a player whom we have been following for three seasons now," explained Florian Maurice, OL's director of recruitment. "He has all the characteristics that our coach Bruno Genesio has been looking for: versatility - as he can play anywhere across the backline - intelligence, positioning, speed and power in the challenge." After time with the Anderlecht youth team and the Jean-Marc Guillou Académie in Belgium, Denayer joined Manchester City as a 17-year-old in 2012. Although he never played a match for City's senior team, the defender cut his teeth via a series of loan deals over the last four seasons, turning out for Celtic, Galatasaray, Sunderland and then Galatasaray again. In 2017-18, he made 22 appearances in the Turkish top flight. Jason Denayer arrives in a sector of the squad that lost Mouctar Diakhaby to Velancia earlier in the summer. The new OL recruit has eight Belgium caps to his name, the last of which came at Euro 2016, when he was a starter as the Red Devils fell to Wales in the quarter-finals. Maignan puts them on the spot! By saving Falcao's penalty in the 0-0 draw AS Monaco in Week 2, LOSC 'keeper Mike Maignan confirmed that he is a veritable specialist of the art, with a net positive record in Ligue 1 Conforama. Maignan has saved five (with one also missed by the shooter) of the nine spot-kicks he has faced in Ligue 1 Conforama. Incredible stats for the LOSC 'keeper after diving smartly to save Radamel Falcao's effort in the Week 2 clash in Monaco. Did El Tigre know he was up against a specialist? Did the Colombia star with 51 Ligue 1 Conforama goals to his name allow doubt to creep in? Whatever the case was, the Dogues' 'keeper won their 69th-minute duel by stopping Falcao's powerful shot down the middle - a decisive save that allowed LOSC to leave the principality with a precious point (0-0) and confirmed Maignan's spot-kick prowess. Last season, Mike Maignan managed to save two penalties in the space of three days: first from Olympique Lyonnais' Nabil Fekir and then Toulouse's Andy Delort, helping to clinch wins on both occasions (OL-LOSC 1-2, Week 15, and LOSC-TFC 1-0, Week 6). His first two 'victims' in Ligue 1 Conforama, Paul-Georges Ntep (Stade Rennais-LOSC 1-1, Week 6) and David N'Gog (Stade de Reims-LOSC 1-0, Week 8) were denied within the space of seven days back in season 2015-16, suggesting the Paris Saint-Germain youth academy product likes to put runs together. So, for the Ligue 1 Conforama clash at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Sunday, En Avant de Guingamp's Marcus Thuram, who scored from the spot in Week 1 this season (AS Saint-Etienne-EA Guingamp 2-1), would do well to study up on the prodigious LOSC shot-stopper. 08/24/2018 Ligue de Football Professionnel - 2018/2019 - Ligue1.com 6