It was with a 1-0 defeat against Le Havre that the Greens began their hopefuls' challenge campaign. Anxious to set the record straight, the reaction was expected for this second day. ASSE played against PSG for the hopefuls' challenge this Monday at 1 p.m. Here is the summary of the match played at Etrat.
The composition of the ASSE
Touré – Nzuzi, Pedro, Ndiaye, Makhloufi – Sahraoui, Amougou, Fall, Miladinovic – Agesilas, Aiki
The coach's words
The ASSE reserve, led by Razik Nedder, faced PSG this Monday for the second day of the Espoirs Challenge at the Robert-Herbin Sports Center. ASSE won 2-0. Razik Nedder spoke after the meeting:
“It's a pleasure to play this kind of match. Today we saw two playful teams, two teams who press, two teams who want to have the ball. When one of the two teams managed to put on a sequence of play , we see the opposing team struggling to recover the ball. It's true that it changes us because these are matches of a technical level well above what we can experience on a daily basis (in N3). .
Also in intensity. I am convinced that the stats we will have in the match will explode compared to what we do in the championship. We were in a new system with a 442 diamond. In order to allow Igor (Miladinovic) to express himself as best as possible. There is something better for him. These matches serve to move everyone forward. We filled Mathis (Amougou), we filled Igor. We really saw that in these matches, at a high level of young people, we showed a lot of mastery in using the ball. Our dry cleaning worked.
The intensity that we put into this match is close to our game plan, to where we want to go, to the identity of the club. We played like real Stéphanois, with this desire to win, to scratch, not to complain, to advance, to stamp while being tough defensively. I found it really nice.
Back to N3 this weekend. The idea is to succeed in putting this intensity into the championship as well. The difference is that when you put this pressure in place in the championship, the opponents play long. You collect the balloons and you break your teeth facing a low block. It's a totally different football. This is why these matches interest us. And we'll see if the point at Espaly was a good point if we win Chambéry at home.”
Upcoming matches
D3: February 3, 2025: Montpellier – Saint-Etienne
Day 4: March 3, 2025: Saint-Etienne – Nantes
D5: March 31, 2025: Toulouse – Saint-Etienne
Note that the first two teams in each group will meet in a final phase (semi-finals then final open to the public) in May 2025.
Photo credit: asse.fr
