Just as all the Monacons were immersed in the dream that the team was about to embark on the winning track again, Nante's first blow was like a thunderbolt, directly knocking the Monacons dizzy and unable to raise their heads.
In this season, the biggest obstacles on Monaco's way to promotion are Nantes and Gangang. At present, the two teams are like two insurmountable mountains, steadily occupying the second and third places. In the fourth round of the league, Monaco has successfully crossed the high mountain of Gant. If it can defeat Nantes in this round, Monaco's promotion road this season should be smooth.
However, the reality is always cruel. 0:2, this is the score after the end of the game. At its own home field, Louis II Stadium, Monaco lost a lot and had no power to fight back.
In previous games, even if Monaco draws or even loses, the scene still has the upper hand. However, in this game, Monaco was like a tiger whose teeth had been pulled out. It was suppressed by Nantes from beginning to end, and it was a mess.
It's not that Monaco is not as strong as Nantes. If it's really strong, Monaco is still slightly better. But the result of the game will not lie. Losing is losing, and any excuse will be pale and powerless. For Monaco, the most important thing now is to be ashamed and brave, and get up wherever they fall.
Speaking of which, Monaco really has the spirit of not giving up. In the next three rounds of the league after losing to Nantes, Monaco has achieved a good result of winning. With this wave of three consecutive wins, Monaco once again rode the dust, leading Nantes to the top of the standings.
The elevator system of the Ligue 1 is that the top two players in the standings will be directly promoted, and the third place needs to play a two-round play-off with the penultimate person in the Ligue 1, and the winner can enter the stage of the Ligue 1. Therefore, as long as Monaco maintains the top two, it can be upgraded smoothly.
For Afei, whether Monaco is promoted or not has little to do with him. Anyway, he has few opportunities in the league. What is really closely related to him is the French Cup in the following week.
According to the starting order of the French League Cup, the first knockout match of the French Cup should have fallen on Afei, and then Ranieri also announced this news as Afei expected.
However, the strength of Monaco's opponent is really overwhelming, like a mantis as a car. It comes from the Toulon Athletic of the French C.
Although Afei did not get a chance to play in the league, in the simulation match, Afei has not conceded a goal in three consecutive games. After each game, the threat posed by the opponent to him is minimal.
This is not only due to Monaco's strong strength, but also to Afei's rebirth during this period. His change is from the inside out, which is almost different.
Confidence, once Afei's confidence came from having a pair of magical gloves. Now, the gloves have become a system and have truly become a part of Afei. After gradually adapting to it, Afei's confidence gushed out from the inside out like a volcanic eruption.
This kind of change is difficult for outsiders to notice. Only those who are close to Afei can understand it. For example, Pelizaro, an Italian old man, is at a loss like a second-in-law monk. I don't know why Afei has changed so much.
But this change is undoubtedly a good thing for Afei, which Pelizaro observed meticulously. Even in his mind, today's Afei has the strength to compete with Subasic and compete for the main position.
However, Pelizaro knows Ranieri like the back of his hand. In terms of the current situation, unless Subasic is injured, Afei will never be on the starting list.
Although there will be no change in the starting lineup, Afei has gradually surpassed Surzac in the selection of the second goalkeeper. After all, although training is different from competition, Afei's performance in training is indeed better than that of Sulzak.
This can be seen from the last two rounds of the league. In the last two games of these three consecutive wins, Afei has always appeared on the 18-man list, and before that, the two took turns to be on the list. Especially next, Afei will also be the starting goalkeeper in the French Cup.
Later, in the game with Toulon Athletic, Afei had a boring time. Due to its absolute advantage in strength, Toulon Athletic is unlikely to pose a threat to Monaco's goal.
However, this situation also tests the goalkeeper's concentration and reaction speed. If there is no threat for a long time, people will relax their vigilance. If the opponent suddenly kicks at this time, it is likely to lose the goal.
In fact, Toulon Athletic does do the same. In the thirty-third minute, they suddenly burst out a long shot. Fortunately, Afei was highly focused and reacted as fast as lightning, blocking the ball.
In the seventh minute of the opening of the second half, Toulon Athletic quickly launched a counterattack after breaking the ball. It was still Afei's brave performance. Finally, he successfully resolved the wave of attack, kept the goal intact, and helped Monaco successfully break into the next round.
This is another game that no one cares about, not to mention that Monaco itself is in the French Second Division, and the opponent is a team from the French League. Even during the away game, there were only a hundred Monaco fans on the scene, and their low attention was obvious.
In the eyes of the media and fans, the game was like a forgotten corner, no one paid attention to it, and Afei's performance was even more flashy, and no one cared about it. However, the team's head coach took all this in sight.
Therefore, in this game, Afei still succeeded in brushing some sense of existence in front of Ranieri, especially the two wonderful saves, which seemed to make Afei regain the steel-like concentration he used to be.
After the knockout round of the French Cup, Afei, who returned to the league, sat on the bench again like a cold bench, while Monaco went down the mountain like a tiger and won another victory, while Nantes on the other stadium won a draw, and Monaco re-established its leading advantage.
However, Monaco's winning streak stopped abruptly. In the eighth round of the French Cup, Monaco lost to another French team, Burgs, like a frosted eggplant. However, Afei did not win nothing in this game.
Because of Surzac, who started in the French Cup, with the defeat of the game, the battle between Afei and Surzac came to an end.
Sulzac was also well aware that he had lost the battle with Afei. After the game, the loss on the French goalkeeper's face could not be covered up like a cloud.
After losing the French Cup, Monaco, which returned to the league, also lost the direction of victory like a headless fly. In the 17th round of the league, Monaco challenged Caen away. This game was like a nightmare and was Monaco's most tragic defeat so far this season.
3:0, this game was like a mirror, fully reflecting the instability of young players. Although Monaco's strength on paper still prevailed, on the court, Monaco was suppressed by Caen like a bound lamb.
What makes Monaco people even more anxious is the victory of the rivals. Originally, Monaco was two points ahead of Nantes, but with this defeat, the difference between the two sides narrowed rapidly like sand in an hourglass. Now Nante is one point ahead of Monaco.
The top two of Ligue 1 are like two bright stars, directly rising into the wider starry sky. However, the gap between the first and second places is just like an insurmountable gap. Although the French Second Division championship is not the supreme glory, it is also like a shining pearl, emitting a unique light.
The defeat of the seventeen rounds was like a heavy hammer, hitting Monaco so hard that it fell into a difficult situation, so that Monaco failed to return to the track of victory three days later. Although they did not lose the game, a draw is like a glass of water for Monaco, which is far from enough.
In contrast, Nante is like an unbridled wild horse, running wildly all the way and singing. What's more ironic is that Nantes' opponent in the 18th round was actually Caen, who caused Monaco's defeat in the last round, which is undoubtedly salt on Monaco's wounds.
At the same time, Gangang, who ranked third in points, also chased closely like a fierce cheetah. Since the beginning of the tenth round, Gangang has been like a god of war and has never lost again. In the past nine rounds, he has achieved a brilliant record of 5 wins and 4 draws, which is amazing.