Rodez’s victory over Toulouse on Monday, May 2, 2022, will deprive QRM of any chance to maintain its position from this Saturday, May 7, during the very important trip to Caen (7 pm). For the Quevillais, it will have to wait until the last day of Ligue 2 is resolved.
No, the players of Quevilly-Rouen (18th) will not participate in the celebration, Saturday, May 7, 2022, at the Ornano stadium in Caen. While SMC supporters will be in attendance in large numbers (nearly 18,000) to support their home side one last time, and it could be a matter of celebrating the coronation of the U19s involved in the Gambardella Cup final against on OL (kick-off 5:15pm at the Stade de France), Fabien Mercadal’s men won’t get a chance to crack the champagne in Calvados, come what may.
Who will prevail for the last day?
Their hopes were dashed on Monday, May 2, after the victory of Rodez (17th) over the leader of Toulouse: by winning for the first time in 2022, the Ruthénois reached 37 units, the same total as that of QRM, which scored three points on Wednesday. May 4 after the game break in Nancy. “I quickly understood that the Ruthénois had a good chance of getting a result, because I felt the Toulouse team was less efficient than in their last matches.says Fabien Mercadal. It wasn’t the TFC we were dealing with a few weeks earlier, that’s for sure, but it makes sense, they had just celebrated their entry into Ligue 1.”
As a result, as there are only two games left, neither QRM nor the RAF (which travels to Bastia) has the certainty of leaving the play-off spot for good next Saturday, regardless of the outcome. On the other hand, it will be possible to take control before the 38th and last day. In principle, the team that achieves the best result this Saturday, May 7, will officially be kept the following Saturday in case of victory. Until then, Dunkirk (19th, 31 pts), which is expected to close the championship in Diochon, may be sentenced to the direct descent: for that it is enough that the Quevillais or the Ruthénois take at least one point this Saturday.
Fabien Mercadal speaks, on video, before the QRM competition in Caen:
Gbellé: “We are not afraid of these kinds of encounters”
Alors que vous aviez le maintien au bout des doigts en menant 1-0 à la 70e minute face à Pau samedi 30 avril 2022 (défaite 1-2), n’est-ce pas dommage de devoir aller à Caen avec une obligation de bien to do ?
“Yes, it’s a shame, but we could have done it in previous games. We won’t be beaten, we still have our fate between our feet. There are still two games to go, including the first in Caen. We go there to take points, there is no choice, we know there are no more 30 games to recover. This is a decisive moment. †
What will the strategy be? Can you be content with one point, knowing that if Rodez wins at the same time at Bastia, it will be them who will have the advantage when it comes to the final day?
“If we only get one point in Caen, Dunkirk will still be eliminated in the maintenance race, knowing they will visit us on the last day. We must therefore not neglect this point which we could take. But we will do our best to get the three points. †
What kind of game do you expect, in a stadium that will be full and who wants to honor their team?
“In this second part of the season it is a very good team. At home they like to finish it in style. We expect to experience a very complicated meeting, in which we make an effort and stay focused throughout the match. But we are not afraid of these kind of encounters, we know what we have to do. They will be motivated by the public and we will have one of the main problems. I think that will make the difference. †