Reims (AFP)
Reims, which finished 6th in Ligue 1 after the interruption of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, could return to Europe after 57 years of absence. But the champagne will wait: the club keeps a cool head.
Eighth to the general surprise last season for its return to the elite after two years on the lower floor, the Champagne club continued its momentum and made a remarkable journey this year to obtain its best ranking since 1976.
"We welcome this 6th place with all the restraint and decency that the health situation imposes on us. To gargle with a classification in this period would be somewhat inappropriate," said the President of Reims Jean-Pierre Caillot.
"However, in sporting terms, this place is deserved (...). We are in particular the only team that beat Paris at the Parc des Princes, Marseille at the Vélodrome and Rennes on the outward and return legs", worth it.
Despite this fine journey, the Stade de Reims is not yet certain of finding the European scene and returning to the thread of its glorious past: two championship club cup finals lost to Real Madrid (1956 and 1959) and one victory in the Latin Cup, pitting the champions of the countries of southern Europe (1953).
- "Wink to history" -
This uncertainty about the European qualification of Reims is due to the vagueness surrounding the finals of suspended national cups, such as the championship, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The club from Reims will compete in the second qualifying round of the Europa League (C3) if the finals of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue do not take place, or if they are both won by Paris SG, respectively against Saint-Etienne and Lyon.
"If we are qualified, we will play the game thoroughly and without calculation with our strengths. If we are not, we will focus on the championship and the Coupe de France with ambition", underlines Jean-Pierre Caillot.
A return to the continental games at the Auguste-Delaune stadium would however be a great reward for Reims, whose last match in the European Cup dates back to March 1963 and an elimination in the quarter-finals of the C1 against Feyenoord Rotterdam.
"It would already be a great nod to history for lovers of our sport. For our supporters, the city and the region it would be a magnificent gift, they who have seen the club rise from the ashes since its liquidation in 1991. Finally, for us at the club, this would be a marker of progress, "said the manager, president since 2004.
Uncertainty does not seem to disturb the President of Reims and his sports supervision successfully led by David Guion for three years.
- Serenity -
For next season, the club ensures that it will not deviate from its recruitment policy and that "the European Cup is not a criterion for building a workforce".
In terms of departures, the great performances of players from the Champagne region this season have stirred envy and many will be called upon, such as striker Boulaye Dia (23), who scored 7 goals in 24 league games.
"As every year, we will determine exit vouchers, we will notify interested parties and we will trust this position. Our sound management allows us not to give in to the first big offer to come," explains Jean-Pierre Caillot.
The Reims rearguard, the most waterproof in L1, will also be targeted, including central defender Axel Disasi (22) and Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic (24), who has notably repelled four penalties this season.
But the club does not intend to weaken and be robbed of all its best elements: "We are calm and we will take advantage of this off-season to strengthen an already competitive workforce," concludes the Rémois president.
© 2020 AFP