David is eager to fight Goliath in the Coupe de France quarter-finals and will put on a show regardless of the result. It will be a memorable night on Thursday night as tiny club Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne takes on one of France’s historic clubs, Nantes.It’s such a big occasion that the club decided to pay for expenses to host the tie at Saint-Etienne’s stadium. They will play away from their usual home, but the investment will be doubled, ensuring a big boost to their modest finances. It’ll be a historic encounter for this club that’s currently competing in the National 2, the fourth level of French football. Nearly 30,000 spectators are expected at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, around 70 kilometres away from home.Cette semaine #lepuyenvelay fait chauffer le chaudron 😄#coupedefrance Le Puy Foot / Rennes #envelay #bretagne #auvergnerhonealpes pic.twitter.com/8LsIgfSmXv— Le Puy Tourisme (@otpuyenvelay) February 26, 2024 This Thursday, Le Puy, a club from south-central France, will take on much-fancied opponents in the national cup last eight, knowing they’ve already exceeded their wildest dreams in getting to this stage. But the Ponots are gearing up to play this match in an atmosphere fit for big occasions – because they’re not done making miracles.The remaining tickets will still be available on match day at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium ticket office, but the initial goal has already been widely achieved. The club’s objective was to sell at least 15,000 tickets to cover the organizing expenses. The attendance will ultimately be double that, marking a significant success for this National 2 club, which usually plays its matches at Stade Massot in front of an average of 600 spectators. There were 4,000 spectators at the previous round against Ligue 2 side Laval.##NAJAVA_MECA_7909991##Le Puy held their final training session late on Wednesday on a training ground of the sports complex, away from media scrutiny, to protect the team’s tactical aspects and preparations. Before this final session, there were no injuries reported within Stephane Dief’s squad, which was able to rotate its players during their latest league match, in which they beat another unknown club, Ales. Le Puy’s coach says he won’t change his approach despite facing much stronger opponents than usual.”We won’t change anything. That would mean we’re afraid. At some point, we have strengths to assert, and it’s with these strengths that we might have a slight chance. The quality of our opponent will force us to have much less possession than usual, but our players have those values of solidarity and energy expenditure.”The group of 20 players selected by the Ponots’ coach will be announced on Thursday morning, the day of the match, but the full squad of 26 players will travel to Saint-Etienne. Nobody wants to miss this big occasion! They will meet at their home ground of Massot around 17.30 EAT on Wednesday to head to the Golf hotel for snacks and team talk. While the coach chose not to train on the Chaudron pitch, the group was able to familiarize themselves with the environment last weekend during the Ligue 2 match between Saint-Etienne and Annecy. They could visit the facilities and experience the match from the inside, including the locker rooms.Plus de 𝟑𝟎 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬 vont garnir les tribunes du stade Geoffroy-Guichard pour la rencontre de coupe de France entre le Puy (N2) et Rennes demain soir. Une belle fête en perspective pour le petit poucet. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/VAsnZkcQZi— PFC (@PassionFootClub) February 28, 2024 However, to avoid traffic issues and potential jams on National Route 88 and the 70 kilometres separating the two cities, the snack was scheduled at a Saint-Etienne hotel accustomed to football teams. Over a hundred buses will make the trip to the Verts’ stadium. Coaches have been reserved by neighbouring clubs of Le Puy in the Haute-Loire region in south-central France. Others are chartered by the club for its volunteers and members.Around 30,000 spectators, including 200 Stade Rennais supporters, are expected for this historic match for the club from Haute-Loire. Le Puy has also seized this opportunity to approach businesses in the region, club partners, as well as sponsors of ASSE, their parter club, as 700 VIP packages have been marketed by the club. It’s a chance to earn some much-needed cash, and they’ve taken it fully. Finally, 78 journalists and photographers are accredited for this encounter. Needless to say, for the club’s five employees, the days have been busy since the official announcement of the date and location of this Coupe de France quarter-final.
