the strong words of Pierre Sage after the humiliation against Bourgoin-Jallieu

According to the cliché phrase: “the magic of the Cup has worked“. Little thumb of these 16th finals of the Coupe de France, Bourgoin-Jallieu probably achieved the greatest feat in its history this evening. It is sometimes said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, and yet after Martigues (L2), humiliated a little less than a month ago (4-1), it is OL, 6th in the League 1, who succumbed to dizziness at Stade Pierre-Rajon.

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A victory which took time to emerge for the Nationale 3 amateurs, winners at the end of a perfectly prepared penalty shootout (2-2, 4-2 tab), and whose final merits will go to the goalkeeper and hero Ronan Jay (and double scorer Moujetzky). After the match, it was inevitably bitterness and frustration that prevailed on the side of OL, last year's finalist, and exited from the competition for the first time in its history by a team playing in the 5th division.

OL misses the 8th for the first time since 2017

«I don't blame anyone in particular, but everyone at the same time. We will have to bear the shame towards our loved ones, our families, the supporters, those who love the club, our leaders, the whole world… As I said, it is our duty to beat a team four divisions below, and we didn't do the job», railed Pierre Sage at the microphone of beiN after the meeting. As a reminder, OL had not missed the round of 16 of the Coupe de France since 2017 and this elimination on penalties against OM at the time, already in the 16th round (there had just been a disqualification of OL with the PFC in 2022 after incidents in the stands).

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Relaunched on the reasons for this historic poor performance against Bourgoin-Jallieu, Pierre Sage struggled to put into words. “When we leave the initiative, the ball and the intensity to an opponent who plays in N3, it means that we are not there and that we do not measure the consequences of a defeat like this one. For a club like ours, it's almost a tragedy, in the sense that it is illogical to lose (…) I understand that a match is decided on details, and that we can play badly. There are other elements there, and the worst thing for me is hearing the opposing team singing in their locker room. This is the first bit of shame I've felt, and I don't think it's over yet.» Neither do the chambers.