Kylian Mbappé-owned SM Caen relegated to National | OneFootball

It has been a week to forget for Kylian Mbappé (26). The France captain came off injured during Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League elimination at the hands of Arsenal on Wednesday and on Friday, the club that he bought in the summer, SM Caen, was relegated from Ligue 2.

With three games remaining in the Ligue 2 season, Caen’s fate has been confirmed. Rock-bottom of the league, a 3-0 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Martigues was the nail in the coffin. It is the first time in 41 years that the club will drop to the third division.

There was anger from the fans, expressed through a pitch invasion post-match, as well as a banner unfurled by the club’s ultras: “Management, players – all to blame, all out,” it read, calling for a clear-out at the club. It comes less than a year after Mbappé purchased the club through his investment fund, Coalition Capital.

Nicolas Seube began the season as Caen manager and despite his sacking early in the campaign, ended the season with the best points-per-game ratio (0.94) of any of the three managers who have inherited the post. Bruno Baltazar lost all seven of the games that he took charge of, whilst Michel Der Zakarian (0.75 points-per-game) has failed to save the club from its inevitable fate. Next season, Caen will compete in the National 1, the third tier of French football.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle