Nice fans attack players as club faces Ligue 1 relegation playoff

Nice’s players and staff were attacked by their own fans a few months ago. On Sunday night, ultras stormed the pitch after a goalless draw at home to Metz, forcing players to flee down the tunnel. The scene encapsulated the scale of Ineos’ failure and the anger it has provoked among supporters.

Nice began the season with Champions League qualifiers but now face possible relegation to Ligue 2. Failure to beat Metz on the final day means a two-legged playoff against Saint-Étienne later this month. The timing is disastrous for Ineos, which is seeking to sell the club after failing to challenge Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance, as promised when it bought Nice for €100 million in 2019.

To avoid the playoff, Nice needed its first home league win since Oct. 29. Metz, already relegated, had won only three league games all season, none under Benoit Tavenot, appointed in January. Tavenot ended the season with no wins, nine draws, 18 defeats and two relegations, having also gone winless at Bastia.

Despite the weak opponent, Nice struggled. “Get your arses into gear,” chanted home fans before kickoff. The atmosphere mixed anger, celebration and anticipation. One banner read “Everyone to Paris,” referencing Friday’s Coupe de France final against Lens, while a tifo honored captain Dante, hoping to play his last home game before retiring at 42.

Anger quickly overwhelmed other emotions, and the two playoff matches against Saint-Étienne now overshadow the cup final. “It is no longer a priority at all,” said co-president Jean-Pierre Rivère. The team will travel to the Stade de France with minds elsewhere, much like Reims last season, which lost the cup final to PSG and then the playoff to Metz. Goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf, who played all three games for Reims before joining Nice, hopes to avoid a repeat.

Warning signs were present, but few expected this. Nice’s preseason objectives were vague—a return to Europe unspecified—and never explicit. With Ineos focused on Manchester United, investment at Nice has dried up. Key players like Evann Guessand and Marcin Bulka were sold, and replacements like Kevin Carlos, signed to replace Guessand, failed to score a league goal. Other players rejected the club, including Mahdi Camara, who chose Rennes instead.

Coach Franck Haise complained in autumn that he lacked the players to compete for Europe and later said he could not “create a group” from the squad. Fan anger grew, directed at players, sporting director Florian Maurice, and briefly president Fabrice Bocquet.

In November, Terem Moffi and Jérémie Boga were attacked as they left the team bus at the training ground after a defeat at Lorient. Both players left, Bocquet soon departed, and Haise was gone by year’s end.

The decision to bring back Claude Puel as manager proved disastrous. Rivère said Haise had lost his fight, and they parted ways in December. Puel has managed only two league wins in 18 games, drawing fierce criticism for tactics and selections. But problems run deep, and as boos rang out during a drab draw, targets were unclear.

Tension built when ultras moved from the second to the first tier at halftime, foreshadowing trouble. After full-time, they rampaged around the pitch, and disturbances continued late into the night; staff, guests, and journalists were trapped in the stadium past midnight.

Puel said fans’ “disappointment is legitimate,” and Rivère called for “unity.” But the fracture at Nice is profound. No one seems capable of repairing it, and with talks to sell the club ongoing, Ineos may soon abandon the wreckage. Fans at least waited until full-time to storm the pitch.

Nantes, already relegated, hosted Toulouse on the final day, but the match was abandoned after 22 minutes. Owners stayed away due to safety fears; ultras threw black flares and stormed the pitch. As players and officials rushed off, manager Vahid Halilhodzic stayed, confronting masked fans and pleading, before leaving with anguish on his face. “In the 40 years of my career as a player and then a manager, I have never experienced that. It will be deeply engraved in my memory,” he said, confirming it would be his final memory in football. “Happy retirement, Coach Vahid.”

On a night of violent images, there was a comic scene at the Paris derby. PSG had secured the Ligue 1 title midweek but had no trophy presentation planned; they hoped to do it after playing Paris FC. But the hosts, having secured their own safety, were unwilling to facilitate the celebration, forcing PSG to erect a small stand in front of away fans. The subdued celebration fit a club measured by Champions League success. Coach Luis Enrique had already prioritized the final against Arsenal, and PSG slumped to a 2-1 defeat.

This article is by Get French Football News.