Before meeting in Beaucaire in N3, at the start of 2025 in the first leg, the OAC and the Stade will battle it out in Alès, in the Coupe de France, Saturday November 16 at 6 p.m., Pierre-Pibarot stadium.
Alès who receives Beaucaire. On paper, this match looks a bit like a… 27th day of National 3 between the current 9th and 7th in Pool J of this division. Unlike the championship, the winner of this derby will return home, without points and, above all, without qualification.
Alès: the Cup, without forgetting the championship
Does this Gardo-Gardois confrontation, against Beaucaire, remain a “derby” to the extent that there are only six of the protagonists remaining in the squad for this season? (Moreau and Franco at Alès, Benaïssa, Traoré, Tamba and Yattara at the Stade).
''It is certain that there will be no spirit of revenge in this context, but also insofar as the two teams have not yet met in the championship (first leg in N3, in Beaucaire on January 11, 2025, Editor's note), notes Alès coach, Hakim Malek. However, I would like to add that I would be very happy to find my colleague Sofyan Carletta on the next bench who is doing great work with Stade Beaucairois.''
The fact remains that a 7th round of the Coupe de France is always good to play with, why not, the possibility for the Alésiens, in the event of qualification, to remember the good memories… of the N2, perhaps opposed to AS Cannes in the 8th round, if the Azuréens escape from the Grau-du-Roi trap (R1). ''I usually say that the Coupe de France is a competition which belongs to the players and I would not deviate from this rule todayrecalls Malek. The journey accomplished so far has above all allowed me to give playing time to certain little-used players.''
The Cup is good. But the OAC does not want to forget the championship. And Malek recalls the latest releases in N3: ''Of course I would be happy but, at the risk of surprising you, I would prefer to recover the points that we lost in the league in the last minutes this season, against Ardziv and Fos or at Villefranche, while we had the match in hand .''
Beaucaire: a match like any other…
Their feat, in this edition of the Coupe de France, the Beaucaire have already done it – ''by eliminating Nîmes (N)'', proclaims the Stade player Malik Hsissane – during the previous round (1-0), at Schneider. This time, it is away, and at Pibarot, that Sofyan Carletta's men will try to continue the adventure in the Cup.
No pressure, none. Which suits them quite well, a priori. ''There, we have nothing to losecontinues the Beaucair midfielder, 33, back in the group after a start to the season spoiled by an ankle injury contracted in July, during preparation. It's a match like any other, we have zero pressure. We are here, we are going to give everything and we will take stock at the end of the match. I think Alès has more pressure than us.''
Does this derby cause special excitement within the Beaucairois group? Here, again, the former pro (64 matches in L2) trained at NO, puts his foot on the ball: ''For the young people in the team, they play Alès, not Nîmes Olympique, either. They don't have this derby pressure, they're young people in fact. For them, it's a championship team, they will play the match to win it, like in the championship.''
The composition of the teams
ALES : On the OAC side, some uncertainties still loom, but the starting team should not be far from the next one.
Maamouch – Mouandhu, Missaoui, Dole, Traoré – Duvoux, Barut, Franco – Kubota, Diarra, Ekra. Substitutes : Boustouler (g.), Fahrasmane, El Koubaiti, Baptiste, Benezet, Fari, Baana Jaba.
BEAUCAIRE: The Stadium will line up ''the best possible team''promises Adjiont Xavier Mouret.
Kedvesi – Souaré, Karamoko, Traoré, Diallo – Bertil, Tamba, Dia – Viluka, Kuange Makala, Bouraja. Substitutes : Yattara (g.), Benaissa, Monnet Dupont, Darazi, Hsissane, Bach, Kraichi.
