SM Caen plays its last match of the year this Friday evening at Ornano. Facing Rodez, the Normandy football club begins a final series of three championship matches (two trips to Laval and Dunkirk will follow) to close 2024 and approach the end of the first leg. Malherbe has one point less than last season, a period when Jean-Marc Furlan was dismissed and Caen had approached its lowest point before the comeback initiated by Nicolas Seube.
But the context and dynamics are not the same, according to the latter. With its qualification in Chartres (0-4), the SMC has won three of its last four matches. And the Caen coach hopes to see the performance outlined in Metz (1-0) translate into points. “Even if it’s a bit the same on an accounting level, it’s different on a mental level. The parallel (with last year) would be that we could finally get out of this zone which is not pleasant to bring back a little bit of calm and have higher ambitions afterwards. We have to be able to materialize the daily work, the collective performances through victories to give even more confidence and move into a much more pleasant championship. Because I think this team has the ability to move into a more pleasant championship. Even if it remains in one match, if we compare the performance in Metz against an opponent on the rise, I don’t think there is that much of a gap between the two teams. And yet, there is a ten point gap in the rankings. But I don’t think the gap is that big.”
The opponent: an offensive team
Led by his striker Timothée Nkada (seven goals and three assists), Rodez has the 2nd best attack in Ligue 2 (24 goals including 13 in the last four matches) behind that of Lorient. After a difficult start to the championship (five defeats in the first six days) and despite an elimination in the Cup in Angoulême, Rodez remains on six matches without defeat. It will be a solid test for the Caen defense and its goalkeeper Yannis Clementia who in his last four meetings has only conceded one goal to Metz.
The Stat’: Against Rodez, it’s make or break.
This is the tenth time since 2019 and its relegation that SM Caen has crossed paths with Rodez in the championship. So far, none of these confrontations have resulted in a draw. The Ruthenois won five of the nine matches played but the SMC won the last three matches played against the Aveyronnais in Ornano without conceding a single goal.
A group of 19 people from Caen
No absentees to deplore but no return either from the Caen infirmary (M’Vila, Coulibaly, Henry, Ntim, Bagbema, Sy). Et Devil’s Nakedness benefited from an adapted week after his shoulder injury during the match in Chartres (0-4). Nicolas Seube, on the other hand, recovers the offensive player Tidiam Gomis and the guardian Anthony Mandréa back from selection in a group expanded to 19 players.
SM Caen : Yannis Clementia, Anthony Mandréa – Diabé Bolumbu, Daylam Meddah, Romain Thomas, Brahim Traoré, Robin Verhaeghe, Quentin Lecoeuche – Noé Lebreton, Didi Gaucho, Lorenzo Rajot, Bilal Brahimi, Mathias Autret, Gabin Tomé- Alexandre Mendy, Godson Kyer Tidi Gomis, Gomis , Mohamed Hafid, Mickaël Le Bihan.
