Ligue 1 Review | Mission accomplished as Angers defy expectations | OneFootball

The Stade Raymond Kopa was forced to wait on Saturday night to fully celebrate Angers SCO’s 2-1 victory over RC Strasbourg Alsace. Ahead of the match, Angers knew a win would likely secure them safety from relegation, but for it to be confirmed, they needed results elsewhere to go in their favour.

At the final whistle, eyes turned north to the Stade Océane. A delay in the clash between Le Havre and Olympique de Marseille due to crowd trouble had left it as the last Ligue 1 fixture to be completed, and the match that would determine whether Angers could begin their celebrations in earnest.

A 3-1 defeat for Le Havre was enough to put Le SCO mathematically clear of the relegation playoff spot with one game left to play. “We waited among ourselves in the locker room, and watched,” Angers’ sporting director, Laurent Boissier, told L’Équipe, “It was a moment of joy. Experiencing emotions like that, that’s what makes me exist.”

Angers hit back against the doom and gloom

There is perhaps no team in France that has defied expectations quite like Angers have this season, which makes it all the more surprising that their achievement has seemingly flown under the radar. After securing promotion back to the top flight last year, they were the widespread favourites to drop straight back down to Ligue 2.

It was a hard task to find someone who did not think Angers would struggle with their return to Ligue 1. And there were valid reasons for this viewpoint, the club have the lowest budget in the league, and did not spend a single euro on transfer fees. As Boissier explained, “It’s like in Formula 1. We didn’t have the best car on the starting line, and generally, the worst ones don’t win the race.”

However, despite the shoestring budget, the club have backed itself to succeed through a keen eye for an excellent deal. Esteban Lepaul, for example, who scored both goals against Strasbourg (and has scored 13 in total across all competitions for this campaign), was brought in midway through last season for €150,000 from third-tier side SAS Épinal.

No fears for next season

Results had dipped in recent months, with the club going on a run of five defeats in a row before collecting three wins in their last five. However, part of what has been so impressive about Angers is that they have this ability to dig deep and to keep fighting even when matches were not going their way.

A lot of that has to do with the character that head coach Alexandre Dujeux has instilled into his squad. As he told reporters following the 1-0 win over FC Nantes, “We have a squad with morale, character, and we’ve proven that we’re still there. It’s very, very good. You need a lot of resilience in this profession and to keep the faith until the end.”

The question for Angers will soon turn to the future. The financial divide in France is only growing, and the club know that next season they will once again have the lowest budget in the league. For Boissier, the answer is simple: “We’ll have to be twice as good, twice as inventive, to pull off this new miracle. But it doesn’t scare me.”

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