Although players were encouraged to show their level and fighting spirit in the locker room before the game, the ability to win the Marseille successfully can still be regarded as a "surprise" for head coach Fernandez.

Being able to eliminate Marseille by only half of the main lineup has greatly boosted the confidence of Metz players.

Then in the league, Metz welcomed her derby opponent Nancy at home. There was almost no suspense in this game. Metz, who had just eliminated Marseille in the cup, faced the weak Nancy without any mercy. With a score of 4:0, he won the second Lorrin derby of the season, killing his enemy Nancy both!

Chu Zhongtian did not score any more goals in this game, but he assisted two goals. Being able to defeat Nancy so easily is inseparable from his connection and dispatch in the midfield.

Ribery didn't go to the match against Marseille, but the team won, which made Ribery jealous. So he vented his enthusiasm on the poor Nancy. In this game, Ribery scored two goals alone and assisted one. After the game, he was selected as the best in this game.

After winning the derby at home, Chu Zhongtian saw the crazy of the fans - the excited Metz fans followed the team's bus to the hotel they stayed, and they made a fuss there until three in the morning to disperse at the request of the police.

That scene is completely comparable to the success of relegation.

The first derby was on the road. After the game, Chu Zhongtian did not see the scene of Metz fans celebrating wildly. Now they are at home, and they enjoy heroic treatment.

On February 11, in the 26th round of the league, Metz tied with Ausselle 1:1 away. After 26 rounds of the league, everyone was surprised to find that Metz, who was still struggling to relegate last season, had already made them reach third in the league rankings!

The first place is Lyon. They play one game less, with 16 wins, eight draws and one loss in 25 rounds of the league, and amassing fifty-six points, which is seven points away from the second place. The second place is Bordeaux, who won thirteen games in the 26 rounds of the league, tied ten games, lost three games, and accumulated forty-nine points. The third-ranked Metz won thirteen games in the 16 rounds of the league, draws six games, and lost seven games, which accumulated forty-five points.

Next is Ausselle, who has thirteen wins, four draws and nine losses, ranking fourth with forty-three points, eight draws and seven losses, and Lille, who has 41 points, ranking fifth with forty-one points.

According to regulations, the top two final rankings of the Ligue 1 league will directly participate in the UEFA Champions League next season, and the third place will qualify for the Champions League next season. The fourth place in the league will participate in the next season's League Cup. At the same time, the French Cup and French League Cup champions can also participate in the League Cup. If the French Cup champion has already obtained the European competition qualification, his quota will be given to the FA Cup runner-up. If the League Cup champion has obtained the European competition qualification, his quota will be given to the top teams in the league.

In this way, if Metz can maintain this ranking, they may even participate in the Champions League next season!

This is something that Metz fans dare not dream of.

For many years, their biggest goal was to relegate. This was not a team with a tradition of championships. The last time the team received important honors was in 1996, when Metz won the French League Cup, and since then, they have never earned no honors in the top leagues and cups.

Two French Cup champions in the 1980s and one League Cup champion in the 1990s are all honors that Metz deserves to be proud of.

Now they still have the hope of participating in the Champions League?

Some Metz fans thought that what he saw was hallucinations... They rubbed their eyes carefully and then opened their eyes to see: That's right! Metz is really ranked third, with two points from Ausselle, who is fourth, and four points away from the second in the league.

Even the Metz players themselves did not expect that they worked hard for more than half a season. They suddenly looked up and found that they had climbed to such a high position... "We have completed the task of relegation ahead of time?"

In the locker room at the end of the training, the question Obraniak asked caused everyone to burst into laughter.

"You still want to relegate? Ludovik?" Ribery said disdainfully, "Our points can allow us to go to the European arena! And it's the Champions League!"

"But the season has only been more than halfway through..."

"It's just twelve rounds left. The season has already started two-thirds. Ludovik! As long as we hold on, we can go to the Champions League!" Ribery waved his fists, and his words received positive responses from most players.

Chu Zhongtian also hopes that the team can go to the Champions League, so that his great wish can be realized - to participate in the top European competitions.

This top event is the UEFA Champions League.

※※Messe's performance has also attracted further attention from the media. Messe's local media is naturally a vocal voice of praise, calling every player of Messe a top player in the Ligue 1 League.

Other French media, especially the more rigorous "February" and "French Football" should calm down objectively. They believe that the biggest contributor to the team's achievements is actually not the players, but the head coach Jean Fernandez. It was him who relied on his personal charm to keep Ribery, signed Chu Zhongtian and Menez, and then built Metz's three musketeers. The contribution of these three players can be seen from their total goals and assists.

As of the 26th round of this season, Metz scored a total of 40 goals. Their attack power is already on par with Lyon, who has one less game. Lyon also scored forty goals in 25 games, but they conceded thirteen more goals than Lyon. Lyon conceded 16 goals, while Metz conceded 29 goals.

Among these forty goals, there are twenty-seven of them who are directly related to the Three Musketeers - that is, the three of them scored or assisted, accounting for almost three-quarters of the team's goals. This has not counted some of the goals initiated by Chu Zhongtian.

Although they scored a lot of goals and assisted a lot of goals, the person who unified them was Fernandez.

It was him who persuaded Molinari to leave Ribery at all costs, and it was him who persuaded Molinari to buy Chu Zhongtian at all costs. It was him who personally went to Sosha to bring Menez after Molinari had already introduced An Zhenhuan for free.

However, the "Team News" also saw the potential danger of Metz - this team is too young, and Bobby Coni, as the captain, is only 27 years old. The biggest in the team is goalkeeper Gregori, Winby, 34 years old. Half of the players are under the age of 22. Especially Menez and Chu Zhongtian, who are the core of the team, Ribery, Menez, 18 years old, Chu Zhongtian, and 22 years old, and Ribery is 23 years old. They are all very young.

Such a young team is motivated but lacks endurance and stable performance. They can score a 3:3 high score against Monaco in away games, and can also lose 1:4 to Lyon at home.

The temptation of participating in the Champions League next season is in front of them. Can their mentality be unaffected?

※※※The analysis of experts is always worthy.

Sure enough, the Metz team, whose self-confidence was so strong that they even expanded to the point of self-inflation, were so contrasting with their previous performance in the next new round of the Devil's schedule... The 27th round, lost to Marseille 0:1 at home.

In the 28th round, the away game was tied with Bordeaux 3:3.

In the 29th round, he lost to Monaco 1:2 at home.

In the 30th round, he lost 0:4 away to Lyon.

In addition to the match against Ausselle, he only scored two draws in five games, but did not win one. The ranking also fell from the third before to sixth. From being able to participate in the Champions League, he suddenly fell to the point where he had no chance of any European competition.

This result is disgusting, but Fernandez smiled when facing the media.

From the third place, he knew that the situation was not good. Messe didn't have much ambition at first, and all the players were still on "relegation". He was soaring to the sky that it would inevitably make everyone lose their calmness all of a sudden. He didn't know that the sky was so high that the earth was thick.

The time comes for continuous failures, which makes everyone calm down again and understand that their strength and situation are actually not as beautiful as they imagined.

And anyway, it's the devil's schedule, losing to a strong team is better than losing to an opponent of the same level or even weaker. The scores in these games were not originally planned, and if they were lost, they would be lost. He was not very heartbroken.

It is a good deal to stimulate players with a few planned failures and wake them up.

"Stop dreaming, play the remaining games steadily first." Fernandez comforted the players who were dejected after the game against Lyon. "Now you know that the Champions League is not that easy, guys?"

No one said anything in the locker room. Even Ribery, who had always been optimistic, lowered his head, saying that no one could see his expression.

Chu Zhongtian was a little disappointed. Unexpectedly, the team's performance in these games would be so unbeaten and they lost no way to fight back. When playing Marseille, Metz remained unbeaten against Marseille this season. Chu Zhongtian originally thought that this game was at home and should be able to win, but he did not expect to lose to his opponent. The draw with Bordeaux was also very lucky. If Metz had not won a penalty at the last moment, the score would have been 2:3, and they lost. There was nothing to say about losing to Monaco and Lyon, and their strength was not as good as that.

In fact, this result did not disappoint the media and fans. On the contrary, Metz fans think that this is the normal performance of the team. Metz fans don’t care about the losses in these games. On the one hand, the opponent is too strong, and on the other hand, it is because the team’s current points can be said to have completed the relegation task ahead of schedule. Metz has no goals this season.

All Metz fans were relieved to be sure that they could continue to stay in the Ligue 1 next season.

Naturally, they are not as resentful or dejected as the players are about this result.

※※※The sixth place in the league is not qualified to participate in European competitions. The Ligue 1 status is not as good as the Serie A and the Premier League. The top six are all eligible to participate in the League Cup. They only have the chance to be the top four.

To be honest, Fernandez also wanted to participate in next season's European competition, but not the Champions League, but the League Cup. He had this idea when the team accidentally eliminated Marseille, and suddenly he wondered why he couldn't compete in the French Cup? Anyway, the team has been relegated ahead of schedule - if it's 46 points and has to be relegated, this is not Ligue 1 anymore.

Since he has relegated in advance, why not hit a higher goal? Metz's opponent in the next round of the French Cup has been released long ago. Socho, who has won once in the league. He is currently ranked seventeenth in the league, just one step away from the relegation zone.

In terms of the strength of the two teams, Metz is likely to defeat Socho at home.

Moreover, Sosha is currently in poor league rankings. With only eight rounds left in the league, they must work hard to relegate. How can they still care about playing in the cup at this time? Even if they win the cup championship? They are relegated to the League Cup next season, but they are relegated. I really don’t know if it’s cost-effective... Sosha will definitely not play all the main players in this game, and will have spare energy to deal with the next league. So in terms of the strength and mentality of both sides, Metz is better.

After winning Socho, Metzco made it to the quarterfinals of the French Cup, which was only two games away from the final.

Making up his mind, Fernandez informed the entire team of his plan.

When everyone learned that the coach had made it clear that the team's new goal was to hit the European arena next season, they were a little surprised - Mr. Fernandez had advised them not to dream, why is he now taking the initiative to dream?

"I mean don't dream in the Champions League, and I didn't say we don't dream in the whole of Europe." Fernandez explained with a smile. "When we play the French Cup well, we have hope to go to the League Cup next season. Why give up such a good opportunity?"

When everyone heard this, they all understood - it turns out that they are competing for the League Cup qualification!

This is not bad. It is also great if you can't go to the Champions League, and it's also good to be able to go to the League Cup. For this Metz team, none of them has ever had the experience of participating in European competitions. Therefore, the League Cup that the giant teams look down on is also an absolute favorite in the eyes of Metz players.

Once a new goal is found, the players are revitalized.

Ribery was the first to jump out to support his "football godfather": "No problem! Then let's win the French Cup! Go to the League Cup next season!"

Other teammates also agreed.

Fernandez nodded with satisfaction when he looked at the players' performance. Relegation in advance is a good thing and a bad thing. Fernandez has always been worried that after relegation in advance, the team will lose motivation and perform poorly in the next game. A team that cannot find why is fighting is dangerous and may fall apart at any time. They must be united tightly.

The goal of the Champions League is too far away, and the League Cup has certain operability.

With a new goal, the team will work towards this goal in the second half of the season so that there will be no mess.

※※※With a new goal, the team's morale quickly recovered. In the 31st round of the league on March 18, Metz defeated Rennes 1:0 at home, ending two consecutive losses and a poor record of not winning in five rounds. The 49-point score also raised their ranking to fifth in the league.

After playing this game, Metz will welcome their opponent Socho in the 8th final of the French Cup at home.

Menez faces his former boss again, and he becomes the focus of media attention.

Menez is very impatient with the media's hype. Of course, he thanked Socio for his training, but Socio now has nothing to do with him. It's just a very ordinary game.

During the game, Menez was closely guarded by Socho players and did not perform well. However, he didn't have to worry about being booed by all the fans when he got the ball, because this was Metz's home court. Every time he passed, passed and shot, he would only bring him deafening cheers and applause from the stands.

Metz launched a fierce offensive from the beginning, and Sosha knew that Metz was no longer the former Wu Xia Amon, so he firmly retreated and intended to counterattack.

The two sides had been in a stalemate for 77 minutes before the deadlock on the court was broken.

The goal scorer was Proman, the deputy captain of Metz, who relied on a straight free kick to penetrate Socho goalkeeper Teeddy_richert's ten fingers.

This ball made Socho's desire to defend the game was dashed. They either pushed out the offense and tried to equalize the score, or just accepted the result of losing the game and transferred all their energy to the league.

Sosha struggled for a few minutes and finally chose to accept his fate.

In the 85th minute, Ribery scored a goal to secure the victory for Mets. 2:0! Socho completely gave up.

Metz won the game and advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Cup. The next round of the Cup will be held on April 12, and their opponents have not yet been determined.

Two days later, Metz's opponent in the quarterfinals of the French Cup was confirmed - Ligue 1 overlord Lyon.

Just like this, Metz media were happy and praised Metz for being able to enter the quarterfinals of the French Cup. It seems that Metz's entry to the finals is no longer a problem.

Now that I saw the newly released match results, the local media immediately felt a lot of grief. I thought that Metz could not pass Lyon's level and be able to enter the quarterfinals, which is a rare good result in the French Cup in recent years.

Even Metz's players also showed some pessimism, believing that they would definitely lose to Lyon, so it would be better to give up and play hard in the league. Maybe there is still hope to return to third place in the league?

In fact, it is not a big deal for Metz's players to be so unambitious. This season, Metz and Lyon fought twice, once 1:4 and once 0:4, conceded eight goals and only scored one goal, which was completely at a disadvantage. So for many Metz players, when they mentioned Lyon, they would lose the idea of ​​winning and losing, just want to avoid losing and win... In the past, in the locker room after training, everyone would discuss the French Cup and discuss their opponents with great interest. But when the opponent really came out, for a while, basically no one in the locker room discussed the French Cup. What they discussed was: "If you can participate in the League Cup in the fourth place in the league, you can also participate in the League Cup with our performance, it should be okay to win the fourth place in the league, right?"
Chapter completed!