Paris (AFP)
Confirm on the floor its status as the N.1 French basketball club: Asvel's dreams of national supremacy go through the final of the Coupe de France on Saturday (7:00 p.m.) against Dijon, used to bringing the Villeurbanese back to earth.
Tony Parker's club, the head of the Euroleague for two years, must return to current affairs: first the Coupe de France, pending the epilogue of the championship, a Final 8 for which Villeurbanne is on track to qualify. --4th in the Elite - despite an absorbing European campaign.
Two national trophies of which Asvel is the title holder for having won them in 2019. The 2020 editions having been swallowed up, like many things, by the pandemic.
Ten times winner of the Coupe de France, Villeurbanne, on the way to obtaining a guaranteed place for ten years in the Euroleague, presents himself as the big favorite of the final on Saturday in the closed door of Paris-Bercy.
Unless the JDA Dijon, pebble in the Villeurbanne sneakers for more than a year, still brings down the Rhone.
It would be the fourth time in a row.
On the outward and return leg in Elite, Dijon (2nd) dominated Asvel, the last time less than two months ago, and moreover at Astroballe (84-76).
And to complete the picture, Joan of Arc - the name behind the acronym JDA - is quite simply the last club to have won a trophy in France: it was the Leaders Cup, 14 months ago against. .. Asvel (77-69).
A Coupe de France raised on Saturday, in addition to being the second in the history of the Burgundy club (after the one won in 2006) would be a great starting gift for his trainer Laurent Legname, who arrived in 2015 and who will join Bourg-en -Bresse at the end of the season.
At the opening of the evening, the women's final (4:15 p.m.) opposes two unexpected guests, Montpellier (4th in the Championship) and Charleville-Mézières (8th).
With a stake, beyond the trophy: a place in Euroleague next year.
It remains to be seen whether the winner will accept it.
The president of Lattes-Montpellier (BLMA) had given up a year ago to play this Euroleague season for economic reasons, in the wake of the pandemic.
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