Despite the pre-match dressing room encouraging the players to show their level and fighting spirit, the final win against Marseille was still a "surprise" for the Fernandes manager.

Being able to knock out Marseille with only half of the main squad gave the Metz players a boost of confidence.

Then in the league, Metz hosted derby rivals Nancy. There was hardly any suspense in the match, and Metz, who had just eliminated Marseille in the cup, showed no mercy against a weak Nancy. With a score of 4:0, he won the second Lorraine derby of the season cleanly, killing Nancy twice!

Chu Zhongtian did not score again in this game, but he assisted two goals, and he was able to defeat Nancy so easily, which is inseparable from his tandem and dispatch in the midfield.

In the match against Marseille, Ribery did not go, and the team won, which made Ribery jealous. So he took all his passion out on poor Nancy, and in this game Berg scored two goals and assisted one, and was voted the best of the match after the game.

After the home derby victory, Chu Zhongtian saw the frenzy of the fans - the excited Metz fans followed the team's bus all the way to the hotel where they were staying, where the noise lasted until 3 a.m. before the police dispersed at the behest of the police.

That scenario is completely comparable to the success of relegation.

The first derby was on the road, and after the game, Chu Zhongtian did not see the scene of crazy celebrations from the Metz fans. Now it's at home, and they're treated like heroes.

On February 11, in the 26th round of the league, Metz drew 1:1 with Auxerre away. After 26 rounds of league play, everyone was surprised to find that Metz, who was still struggling to be relegated last season, had moved them to third in the league rankings at this time!

At the top of the list is Lyon, who have played one game less, with 16 wins, eight draws and one loss in 25 league games, accumulating 56 points, seven points away from second place. In second place is Bordeaux, with 13 wins, 10 draws and 3 losses in 26 league rounds, accumulating 49 points. The third-ranked Metz won 13 of the 16 league games, drew six and lost seven, accumulating 45 points.

Next is Auxerre, who have 13 wins, 4 draws and 9 losses, and is in fourth place with 43 points. 11 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses, Lille ranked fifth with 41 points.

According to the rules, the top two teams in the final Ligue 1 standings will qualify directly for next season's Champions League, and the third place will qualify for next season's Champions League qualifiers. Fourth place in the league will qualify for next season's UEFA Cup. The winners of the French Cup and the French League Cup can also participate in the UEFA Cup, and if the French Cup winner has already qualified for Europe, they will be given a place to the FA Cup runners-up. And if the winner of the Carabao Cup has already qualified for Europe, the place will be given to the team at the top of the league.

So it seems that if Metz can maintain this position, they may even play in the Champions League next season!

This is something that Metz fans could never have dreamed of.

For many years, their biggest goal was relegation. This is not a team with a championship tradition – the last time the team won the big honours was in 1996, when Metz won the French League Cup, and they have not scored in the top flight or cup competitions since.

Two French Cup titles in the 80s and a League Cup in the 90s were all Metz could be proud of.

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

There are Metz fans who think all he sees is a hallucination...... Rub your eyes carefully and open them again: that's right! Metz is really third, two points clear of fourth-placed Auxerre and four points behind second-place in the league.

Even the Metz players themselves didn't expect that they had worked hard for most of the season, but when they looked up, they found that they had climbed to such a high position...... "We have completed the task of relegation ahead of schedule, right?" ”

In the locker room after training, Oblagnac drew laughter when he asked the question.

"Are you still thinking about relegation? Ludovick? Ribery said dismissively, "Our points can take us to Europe!" And it's the Champions League! ”

"But the season is only more than half ......"

"There's only twelve league games left, and the season is two-thirds of the way through, Ludovic! We just have to hold on and we can go to the Champions League! Ribery shook his fists and his words were echoed positively by most of the players.

Chu Zhongtian also hopes that the team can go to the Champions League, so that one of his big wishes can come true - to participate in the top competition in Europe.

The most top-level competition is the UEFA Champions League.

The performance of Mace has also attracted further attention from the media. Naturally, the local media in Metz is full of praise, describing every player in Metz as the top player in Ligue 1.

Other French media, especially the more rigorous "Team Newspaper" and "France Football", should be objective and calm. They believe that the biggest contributor to the team's success is not the players, but the head coach Jean. Fernandez. It was he who relied on his personal charm to keep Ribery and signed Chu Zhongtian and Menez to build Metz's Three Musketeers. The contribution of these three players can be seen in their total goals and assists.

So far in the 26th round of the season, Metz have scored a total of 40 goals. In terms of goals scored in a single round, their attacking power is already the same as that of Lyon, who have scored 40 goals in 25 games, but they have conceded 13 more goals than Lyon, with Lyon conceding 16 goals and Metz conceding 29.

Of those 40 goals, 27 were directly related to the Three Musketeers - that is, the three of them scored or assisted - and accounted for almost three-quarters of the team's goals. And that's not even counting some of the goals instigated by Chu Zhongtian.

Although they scored a lot of goals and assisted, it was Fernandes who united them.

It was he who persuaded Molinari to disdain to keep Ribery at all costs, and it was he who persuaded Molinari to disdain to buy Chu Zhongtian at a price, and it was he who personally went to Sochaux to bring Menez after Molinari had already brought in An Zhenhuan for free.

But the newspaper also sees the potential danger of Metz – the team is too young, and Bobigoni, the captain, is only twenty-seven years old. The biggest player in the team is goalkeeper Gregory. Wambi, thirty-four years old. Half of the players are under the age of 22. Especially Menez, Chu Zhongtian and Ribery, who are the core of the team, Menez is eighteen years old, Chu Zhongtian is twenty-two years old, and Ribery is twenty-three years old. All young.

Such a young team has momentum, but lacks staying power and consistent performance. They can play Monaco 3-3 on the road, or they can follow up with a 4-1 home defeat to Lyon.

Now that the temptation to play in next season's Champions League is in front of them, can their mentality remain unaffected?

※※※ There is always merit in the analysis of experts.

Sure enough, the performance of the Metz team, which was full of self-confidence and even self-aggrandizement, in the next round of devilish fixtures, was too different from their previous performances...... In the twenty-seventh round, they lost 0:1 at home to Marseille.

In the 28th round, the away team drew 3:3 with Bordeaux.

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

In the thirtieth round, they lost 0:4 away to Lyon.

Including the match against AJ Auxerre, there have been only two draws and no wins in five matches. The ranking also fell to sixth from third previously. From being able to participate in the Champions League, all of a sudden it has fallen to the point where there is no place for any European competitions.

The result was disheartening, but Fernandez was smiling when he faced the media.

From the time he finished third, he knew things weren't going well. Metz didn't have much ambition, and all the players' minds were still on "relegation", and this time it will go to the sky, which will inevitably make everyone lose their cool all of a sudden, and they don't know how thick the sky is.

The successive failures came at the right time, so that everyone could calm down again and understand that their strength and situation were not as rosy as they imagined.

And it's the devil's schedule anyway, it's better to lose to a strong team than to a weaker opponent of the same level or even worse. The points in these games were not originally planned, and if they were lost, they were lost, and he was not very heartbroken.

It's a good deal to motivate the players with a couple of planned defeats and bring them to their senses.

"Stop dreaming, let's play the rest of the game steadily." Fernandes comforted some of his frustrated players after the game against Lyon. "Now you know the Champions League isn't that easy to go, boys?"

There was no sound in the locker room. Even Ribery, who had always been optimistic, kept his head down so that no one could see his expression.

Chu Zhongtian was a little disappointed. I didn't expect the team's performance in these games to be so unbearable, and the loss was powerless. When playing Marseille, Metz was still unbeaten against Marseille this season, Chu Zhongtian originally thought that this game was at home and should be able to win, but he didn't expect to lose to the opponent. The draw with Bordeaux was also a fluke, and if it hadn't been for a late penalty from Metz, the score would have been 2:3 and they lost. Losing to Monaco and Lyon had nothing to say and was inferior in strength.

In fact, this result did not disappoint the media and fans too much, on the contrary, Metz fans thought that this was 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, because the team's current points can be said to have completed the relegation task ahead of schedule, and Metz has no goal this season.

Confirmed that they will be able to stay in Ligue 1 next season, all Metz fans are relieved.

Naturally, they are not as angry or frustrated as the players about the result.

※※※The sixth place in the league is not eligible to participate in European competitions, the status of Ligue 1 is not as good as that of the Premier League of Serie A, and the top six are eligible to participate in the League Cup. They only have a play in the top four.

Truth be told, Fernandes has also thought about playing in next season's European competition, but not in the Champions League, but in the UEFA Cup. He had the idea after the team's surprise elimination of Marseille and he suddenly thought why he couldn't compete in the French Cup. Anyway, the team is already relegated early - if there is a relegation at 46 points, this is not Ligue 1.

Now that we've been relegated ahead of schedule, why not hit a higher target? Metz's opponent in the next round of the French Cup has long been revealed, it is Sochaux, who has won once in the league, and is currently 17th in the league, just one step away from the relegation zone.

In terms of the strength of both teams, it is very likely that Metz will win Sochaux at home.

Moreover, Sochaux are currently in a poor league position and must fight for relegation with only eight games left in the league. At this time, how can you still care about playing the cup? What if you win the Cup? I really don't know if it's a good deal to get into the UEFA Cup next season, but to be relegated...... Sochaux will certainly not be fully involved in this game and will have spare energy for the rest of the league. Therefore, in terms of the strength and mentality of the two sides, Metz is superior.

A win over Sochaux would have knocked Mez into the quarter-finals of the French Cup, just two games away.

Having made up his mind, Fernandez informed the team of his plans.

Everyone was surprised when they learned that the manager had made it clear that the team's new goal was to challenge for next season's European competition - why did Mr. Fernandes advise them not to dream?

"I'm saying don't dream about the Champions League, and I'm not saying we don't have to dream about the whole of Europe." Fernandez explained with a smile. 'Play well in the French Cup, we can hopefully go to the UEFA Cup next season. Why give up such a great opportunity? ”

As soon as everyone heard this, they all understood - dare to fight for the League Cup qualification!

It's not bad, you can't go to the Champions League, it's good to be able to go to the League Cup. For the Metz team, none of them have ever competed in European competitions. Therefore, the League Cup, which is despised by those giants, is also an out-and-out sweetness in the eyes of Metz players.

Once they found a new target, the players were rejuvenated.

Ribery was the first to jump out in support of his "godfather of football": "No problem! Let's win the French Cup! Go to next season's UEFA Cup! ”

Other teammates chimed in.

Fernandes watched the performance of his players and nodded in satisfaction. Early relegation is both a good thing and a bad thing, and Fernandes has been worried that after the early relegation, the team will lose motivation and perform poorly in the next games. A team that can't find what it's fighting for is dangerous and can fall apart at any moment. They must be held tightly together.

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

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

※※※ With the new goal, the team's morale quickly recovered. In the 31st round of the league on March 18, Metz beat Rennes 1-0 at home, ending a two-game losing streak and a five-game winless streak. Forty-nine points also moved them up to fifth in the league.

With this fixture, Metz will host their French Cup quarter-final opponents, Sochaux.

Menez faced his former club again and he was in the media spotlight.

Menez is impatient with the media hype, and of course he is grateful for Sochaux's training, but now Sochaux has nothing to do with him, it is just a very ordinary game.

During the game, Menez was closely guarded by Sochaux's players and did not perform too well. However, he didn't have to worry about being booed by the fans when he got the ball, because this is the home stadium of Metz. Every time he passes, passes and shots, he only brings him deafening cheers and applause from the stands.

Metz launched a fierce offensive at the beginning, and Sochaux knew that Mace was no longer the Wuxia Amon he used to be, so he resolutely retreated, intending to counterattack.

The stalemate lasted for 77 minutes before the deadlock was broken.

The scorer was Metz vice-captain Promans, who found a direct free-kick past Sochaux goalkeeper Terti. Richett's (teddy_richert) Ten Finger Pass.

It was a goal that frustrated Sochaux's desire to hold on, and they could either press out and try for an equaliser, or simply accept the result of losing the game and turn all their energy to the league.

Sochaux struggled for a few minutes, but finally chose to accept his fate.

In the 85th minute, Franck Ribery scored the winning goal for Metz. 2：0！ Team Sochaux is completely dead.

Metz won the match to progress to the quarter-finals of the French Cup, where the next round of the cup will take place on 12 April, with their opponents yet to be determined.

Two days later, Metz's opponent in the quarter-finals of the French Cup was decided - Ligue 1 giants Lyon.

Just before this, the Metz media were overjoyed that the Metz team was able to break into the quarterfinals of the French Cup. It seems that it will not be a problem for the Metz team to reach the final.

Now that the results of the match have been freshly released, the local media immediately mourned again. It is believed that the Metz team will not be able to get past Lyon and be able to break into the quarterfinals, which is already a rare good result in the French Cup in recent years.

Even among Metz's players, there is some pessimism, thinking that they will definitely lose to Lyon, so it is better to give up and play well in the league, maybe there is still hope to return to the third place in the league?

In fact, it is no wonder that Metz's players are so unambitious, this season Metz and Lyon have played twice, once 1:4, once 0:4, conceding eight goals, only scoring one goal, completely at a disadvantage. So now for many players in Metz, when it comes to Lyon, they don't have the idea of winning, and they just want to win with less loss...... In the dressing room after training, there would be a lot of fun to talk about the French Cup and their opponents. But when the opponent really came out, for a while, there was basically no one in the dressing room to discuss the French Cup. What they discussed was: "The fourth in the league can also participate in the League Cup, with our performance, it should be okay to finish fourth in the league, right?" ”

(To be continued)