Europe 1 with AFP 6:16 p.m., December 26, 2022

“A second season starting again”: after a 45-day break to make way for the World Cup, Ligue 1 resumes “into the unknown”, with, for the coaches, the “uncertainties” that such a break implies.

Meetings which will be followed live and in full on Wednesday evening from 8 p.m. in “Europe 1 Sport”.

It's the recovery for football!

After a break of just over a month, due to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, part of the championships are resuming in European countries.

This is particularly the case in France, with Ligue 1 clubs stepping into the unknown.

Indeed, organized for the first time during the season (November 20-December 18) to avoid the oppressive summer temperatures in Qatar, the world championship has turned the schedules of the French championship upside down, accustomed to a two-week intermission in mid-season.

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Six week break

Instead, more than six weeks separate the 15th day from the 16th, "virtually the same time as in the offseason", notes Bruno Genesio, the coach of Rennes (3rd in L1).

"For me, it's a second season that starts again, with the same uncertainties, the same unknown before a first league match," he continues.

"We'll see which teams have handled it best."

The coach of the Breton club doubtless fears that this long truce has slowed down the good dynamics of his players, undefeated in the league since August 27, even if he concedes that "the break could have been beneficial, especially for the heads ".

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"Intense" rhythm

Conversely, clubs engaged in a negative series, such as Nantes (15th), welcomed this interruption with open arms.

"This break will have done us good, it will have allowed us to recover, to regenerate, to become aware of what has been good and what has not been," explained Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré.

“When you only win two matches out of fifteen in the league, there are a lot of things to change. We have worked in this direction, and we will have the answers very quickly, with the first two matches. "

"I know that the second half of the season will be very tough," predicted Auxerre coach Christophe Pélissier.

"We are going into the unknown."

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Accumulation of meetings

More than the uncertainty linked to this imposed break, some coaches especially fear the density of the second part of the season, during which the meetings will accumulate.

Barring an early elimination in the Coupe de France, Rennes are preparing to play fifteen matches in 60 days until the end of February.

And if successful in the Coupe de France and the Europa League, there will be six more between March 1 and 19.

"It's going to be a lot, a lot of matches in a very tight period. That's what's most regrettable. These are big sequences, it's never happened. It's going to be very, very intense."

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Preparation as in summer

"With this series of matches, we don't know how the players' bodies will react", supports Christophe Pélissier.

"By multiplying the matches, we do not put them in the best conditions, with the risk of injury in cold weather and on more difficult ground. We will find out, even if we have tried to prepare for this consistently for three weeks. "

In addition to the usual two weeks off, several clubs have set up preparation periods similar to those preceding the start of the season.

The players of Toulouse thus carried out a training course of one week in Turkey, followed by several friendly matches;

Clermont, Auxerre and Lyon have done the same in Spain.

This period was therefore conducive to physical preparation work, according to OL midfielder Maxence Caqueret.

"We come back with lots of good feelings and energy," he said at a press conference on Monday.

"We got back in shape physically and that was the most important thing for us."

However, not all players who participated in the World Cup have yet returned to their respective clubs.

In the semi-finals of the Qatari World Cup, fourteen Ligue 1 players, belonging to eight different clubs, were still in contention.