Stade de Reims - pop the champagne!

[Linecoigne1998]

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New management in Reims!

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In a shock announcement coming in from the Champagne region in France, our sources tell us that David Guion, the manager at Stade de Reims since 2017, has left the club with immediate effect and been replaced with virtually unknown 31-year old Antoine Fournier. This is big news coming from the North-West of France considering the club just got promoted back to Ligue 1 after 2 years out of the top flight but Reims fans seemed excited with the move, mentioning that in order to make sure they stayed up this season it was probably good to bring in someone who wanted to impress and get the best results possible.

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Fournier is a local man, born in Reims on the 24th of November 1986 and has no playing career to speak of but the best coaching licenses possible, definitely making him able to do the job. In his opening press-conference, he declared that he was incredibly proud to be joining his boyhood club and it was his dream to take them back to where they once were when the Champions League was first created when they played against Real Madrid in two different finals, unfortunately losing both times.

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Reims are one of the most decorated sides in French football history with 6 Ligue 1 titles to their name as well as 2 Coupe de France titles and 2 Ligue 2 titles. The club's best period was between 1949 and 1962, a 13-year spell during which they won all 6 of their league titles and had the likes of Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, two French football legends, playing in their side. It will be very interesting to see where Reims can end up this season, especially considering they aren't at all expected to stay up this season with the huge lack of money they received at the end of their Ligue 2 campaign last season.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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Team preview: Stade de Reims

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Hello and welcome to our Ligue 1 2018/19 season preview! The first team we'll be taking a look at in this early pre-season: Stade de Reims. After an incredible Ligue 2 campaign which saw them finish as champions with 88 points (15 points clear of 2nd place), Reims is clearly looking to make an impression in this year's Ligue 1 season.

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The Stade Auguste-Delaune is the club's home and has been since 1935. It was rebuilt in 2008 to adapt to the more modern football standards and can host up to 20,546 fans making it Ligue 1's 7th smallest stadium. The stadium has seen some impressive displays from the home side over the years but this new season feels more exciting than ever before, with a new manager coming in to hopefully keep the club in the first division and with a few new signings that are sure they can make the fans really excited throughout the season.

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Predicted to finish in 18th place and go right back down to Ligue 2, Fournier has got his work cut out for him. The odds of Reims winning the league are however as high as Dijon and Amiens, who are both just above the Champagne region-based club meaning pundits are giving Reims a chance to potentially upset the odds and stay in Ligue 1 for next season.

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Reims have always had a classic vibe to them which can even be seen from their kits. Nothing flashy, no huge sponsors like Emirates or Jeep, just a plain red and white kit with the club's logo in the middle. As such, the side is predicted to line-up in a classic 4-4-2 but aimed towards the attack. The club does have a few decent players in their lineup such as Sheyi Ojo on the left wing (on loan from Liverpool) and Baba Rahman as a left-back (on loan from Chelsea). Unfortunately for Fournier, the club doesn't have a huge amount of depth and as such will need to probably find more loan signings to make this season if he wants his side to have a chance in France's top flight. Suk Hyun-Jun and Chavarría are both expected to score the goals up front, something which the Reims number 10 struggled to do whilst he played at Troyes for the last 2 years scoring just 6 goals in 26 appearances.

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With just 5 pre-season games scheduled, Reims have kept their schedule quite open in order to allow Fournier to really teach his football philosophy to the team, hoping that they'll know it well enough to be sure of what to do against Nice when they face them on the 11th of August for their Ligue 1 opener. It will be a very interesting game between the two sides considering Mario Balotelli's recent departure to Marseille which tremendously weakened Patrick Vieira's side.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Having just started my own save in France, albeit a couple of leagues down from you, I will be following this with interest!

 

[WeArePalace]

This should be a great story! I’m excited to see more from the French leagues and will follow closely! Good luck.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Having just started my own save in France, albeit a couple of leagues down from you, I will be following this with interest!

This should be a great story! I’m excited to see more from the French leagues and will follow closely! Good luck.

Cheers for the support lads, should definitely be an exciting story especially considering the history of the club. I can only hope to bring them back to that status but with a team as dominant as PSG in the league and another side like Monaco who are especially good in FM (plus Lyon, Marseille and Lille for example), it should definitely be a great challenge.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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An exciting but tough pre-season for Fournier at Reims

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Fans of Les Rouges et Blancs (The Red and Whites) won't be sure of what to expect for their side's opening game against Nice in Ligue 1 next week following a lackluster pre-season. With 2 draws and a defeat in 6 games against pretty unthreatening opposition, some fans did voice their concerns whilst others noted the impressive signings made by their 31-year old manager to be a sign of great things to come. The good news is that slowly but surely, the team's familiarity with Fournier's tactics has been noticeable in games and in Reims' 2-0 win over Lecco they really looked like a side that had been playing together for a few years. With some tough games against Nice, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes and PSG in the next month and a half, Fournier really has got his work cut out for him but the board have been surprisingly supportive of the manager's vision for the club, allowing him to spend a total of £6 million up front with the potential of these costs going up to a total of £20 million:

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The first of 4 new signings was a crucial one for Reims, who were in desperate need of a right-back as Thomas Foket was their only option there and the 23-year old Belgian would certainly not be able to assume these right-back responsibilities on his own for the whole season. Kenny Tete comes in on loan from Olympique Lyonnais, who saw this loan as a great opportunity to develop their young Dutch right back and help him adapt to Ligue 1 football following his move from Ajax last season.

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Another signing and perhaps a surprising one was Amine Gouiri's loan arrival, who comes in until the end of the season as a backup striker with an optional future fee of £15 million. Whilst it's extremely unlikely that Reims would be able to get that kind of money together by the end of the season, it is exciting to see a newly-promoted side put their faith into French youth, even though it isn't their own youth players. Gouiri's arrival turned out to be a great decision from Fournier as captain and star striker Pablo Chavarría got injured in the first game of pre-season which will keep him out of the pitch for the next 5 months.

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The last immediate signing, and the club's most expensive ever, is Brenner from São Paulo. The 18-year old comes in on a 4-year deal for an initial £6 million, with that fee rising to £16 million in the next 3 years. It is a lot of money for Reims to be giving away for the next few years of their development but Brenner is an incredible young prospect who was being scouted by the likes of PSG, Atlético Madrid, Juventus and Manchester City when Reims approached him. Whilst Brenner might consider the club a stepping stone in his career and his first step in European football, Reims fans were ecstatic to see the club be able to bring in such a high profile youngster into the team.

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The last signing, which will go through on the 1st of July next year, is that of Thiago Almada. Similarly to Brenner, Almada comes in from South America and was being scouted by PSG and Juventus when Reims made their first offer for him, which makes this an absolute steal for the Ligue 1 side especially for just £4 million. At 17-years old, Almada is already impressing in Argentina and will undoubtedly impress once he comes in next year as yet another South American making his first steps in European football in France.

It's been a very exciting transfer window for Reims fans who will be excited to see all their new players take part in their first official match in the club against Nice in a week's time but will be wary of their club's results in pre-season, most of which were not very impressive for a side as good as Reims compared to their opponents on paper.

 

[leckuno]

Some great signings there that should develop really well and if need be make a huge profit upon selling them to bring even more players into the club

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Some great signings there that should develop really well and if need be make a huge profit upon selling them to bring even more players into the club

My thoughts exactly! I was a little reluctant to put so much money on Brenner but given his potential, the amount that I would be able to get back from him if he was sold makes the deal worth it! Thanks for following

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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Impressive start to Ligue 1 season for newly-promoted Stade de Reims

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Stade de Reims have been the talking point in Ligue 1 so far this season after a few impressive displays in their opening 7 matches. Nîmes, the other newly-promoted side in France's top division this season, sit in 9th place after a few decent performances of their own, including a 2-2 draw with Marseille and a 5-0 win against Toulouse.

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Reims' first home game was one to remember for fans and players alike, as the Rouge et Blancs scored twice in the first half to claim a remarkable 2-0 victory against Olympique Lyonnais, undoubtedly one of the best teams in Ligue 1 not only this year but in recent seasons as well. Kenny Tete was voted player of the match against his parent club which was by far the most ironic part about this game, whilst fans were a little disappointed with record signing Brenner's performance.

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Unfortunately for Reims, their series of good results came to an end with an expected 5-2 thrashing against PSG, thanks to a quadruple from PSG's star man Neymar. Fournier's side did put up a good fight but it's fair to say that the fans and the board would have never expected a result against such a dominant side in Ligue 1 despite the recent good result against Lyon earlier in the season. This result still leaves Reims in a good place on the league table which will have fans delighted.

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With 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats in 7 games, Reims are definitely doing a lot better than many people expected them to, the 3-0 away win against Nantes and 2-0 home win against Lyon probably being the club's best results so far. With the addition of the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France to the club's schedule later in the season though, it will be interesting to see how Fournier gets his side juggling between domestic cup competitions and league competitions.

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Monaco, Lyon and PSG lead the pack in Ligue 1, as expected, whilst Marseille sits down in 10th which is a surprise. Dijon, Reims and Nîmes will be especially happy with their starts to their league campaigns thanks to a few great results, whilst Lille is another side that will be hoping to do better in the coming games. With 31 matches left in this 2018/19 season, there will be a lot more drama and surprise to come but we're already seeing some impressive performances.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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Overachievers Reims continue incredible return to Ligue 1

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Stade de Reims continue their outstanding return to Ligue 1 with an impressive first half to the season, thanks to great results against the likes of Bordeaux, Caen, Marseille, Toulouse and Monaco. One of they key players for Reims has certainly been the man pictured above, Edouard Mendy, who's kept a league best of 10 clean sheets in 19 games, conceding 19 goals so far this season. With some great performances against the big sides, Fournier will be sure to congratulate his Senegalese goalkeeper who's definitely secured his place as the starting goalkeeper for months to come.

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Speaking of the French 32-year old manager, Reims fans will be ecstatic to hear that Fournier has extended his current deal by another year and a half to keep him at the club until 2020. This new contract comes just 4 days after Reims' manager's birthday, so I guess the Reims board wanted to reward him for his incredible start at the club with a nice little birthday present.

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With some money leftover from the summer transfer window following a few dead wood player sales, Fournier has already decided to spend it all on 16-year old Belgian winger Jérémy Doku, who will be coming in on the 1st of January 2019 after an agreement was reached with his former club Anderlecht for £2.5 million up front and an additional £4 million distributed over the next 2 years. This takes Reims' spending this season to £22.5 million, an impressive amount for a recently promoted side but it seems that the Reims board completely trusts their new manager and understandably so!

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One of the results that HAS to be highlighted about Reims' last month and a half in Ligue 1 is their incredible home win against Monaco. Fans had to wait until the 64th minute for any real action as Amine Gouiri, on loan from Lyon, came on just 3 minutes prior only to score what proved to be the winning goal for his side in the 64th minute. It was a pretty dominant performance from the home side but no one would have expected them to beat a side with the resources of AS Monaco.

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The other incredible result for Reims was even better than their 1-0 home win against Monaco, as they beat Marseille 2-0 away thanks to goals from new-signing Brenner and loanee Tete, who scored his 5th goal of the season for his new side, the 4th in Ligue 1. This was a very close game overall but it was Reims who took their chances at the end of the day and it seems that Brenner has finally found a perfect way to play in this Reims side, leading him to a total of 10 goals in 20 games in all competitions, 9 of them coming from 19 appearances in Ligue 1.

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With some huge wins against Bordeaux, Monaco, Marseille and Toulouse, Reims can be proud of their achievements in France's top division so far. They'll be disappointed by their 1-0 defeats to Guingamp and Strasbourg, as well as their Coupe de la Ligue 4th round exit to Caen who beat them 1-0 but you could argue it just gives them more time to focus on the Coupe de France and Ligue 1 now, allowing them to really fight to keep the spot they're currently in in the league.

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And halfway through the season in France's top flight, we see Reims in an impressive 5th position, just a point behind Monaco in 4th and 3 points behind Lyon in 2nd. PSG understandably lead the pack and sit 11 points clear already, whilst Marseille will be disappointed with their 8th place currently, especially knowing they sit behind sides such as Reims and Stade Rennais. The second half of the season in France is going to be very exciting for sure, especially as it would be absolutely outstanding to see Reims finish in the Europa League spots in their first season back in Ligue 1 for the last 2 years!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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SPORT: Champions League qualification race heats up

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Reims continue their outstanding form in their return season to Ligue 1 with an impressive start to the second half of the season, improving even further from their form in the 1st half of the season. With games against Marseille, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse and a cup game against Caen, les Rouges et Blancs had a tough schedule ahead of them but dealt with it as well as they could've with just one defeat in 11 games.

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That one defeat came against a very strong Olympique Lyonnais side who easily beat Reims 3-1, thanks to goals from their star players Depay and Traoré and former-Lille player Nicolas Pépé, who joined from the club from Northern France last summer. Gouiri, on loan from Lyon, also scored in the game in the 45th minute to equaliser but Lyon took the lead back just a minute later. As disappointing as Reims fans will be regarding this result, they will also know that they were never expected to be doing this well at this stage of the season and will absolutely take a 3-1 defeat against Lyon instead of a larger defeat.

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Reims made it 2 for 2 in the league in games against Marseille with yet another 2-0 victory, thanks to goals from Foket and Ojo. The Englishman on loan from Liverpool did get injured just 2 minutes after scoring so Reims fans will be relieved that he would've scored the second goal to put the game to bed just before coming off. It's another world-class performance from Fournier's side who continues to impress and take points against the big teams in France, putting them in a great place to potentially claim a spot in a European competition next season.

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One thing that Reims fans have come to accept this season is that their side either wins or loses but almost never draws! With just 3 draws in 27 games, they have the second least amount of draws in Ligue 1 this season, behind bottom of the league Amiens who have drawn just one game (but lost 20 and won 6...). This month was no different as Reims drew just once, away against Toulouse and lost once against Lyon. This means in 11 games, Reims won an incredible 9 games, form that even PSG fans would be proud of.

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This incredible run of form has led Reims to 2nd place in the league, an outstanding performance for a newly-promoted side. Sitting 10 points behind PSG, it's fair to say they won't be challenging for the title yet but some good results in their last 11 games of the season and against the big sides could secure them a Champions League spot if they stay above Monaco and finish 3rd! Nevertheless, even a Europa League finish would be outstanding for the Champagne-based club who spent just about £20 million this season after getting promoted from the second division and have somehow achieved this incredible season so far.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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Historic Stade de Reims!

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Reims have only gone and achieved (what was thought to be) the impossible task of beating Olympique Lyonnais in the Coupe de France final to win their 2nd trophy in 2 years following their Ligue 2 win last year, and their first domestic cup competition victory since 1958! After beating the likes of Bordeaux, Caen and Nantes on their way to the final, les Rouges et Blancs absolutely destroyed Lyon with a 3-0 win, thanks to goals from Lyon loanee Gouiri, star striker Brenner and unlikely hero Foket! This will be a season that Reims fans won't forget for a long, long time after also finishing an incredible Ligue 1 season in 2nd place, a few points behind the eventual title winners PSG. This not only makes it the club's highest league finish since the 1962/63 season when they also finished 2nd, it also means the club will be playing in a European competition for the first time since that same season, 1962/63, when they got to the quarter-finals of the Champions League (previously known as the European Champions Club's Cup), a historic achievement for Reims following their promotion from the French second division last year.

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With just 2 draws, one defeat and 12 wins in their last 15 games in all competitions, Reims had an incredible run up to the last day of their domestic season where they lost heavily to PSG 4-1, thanks to braces from both Mbappé and Neymar who will have been happy to end their Ligue 1-winning season on a good note.

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A very surprising Ligue 1 season comes to a close with Reims finishing in 2nd and Saint-Étienne as well as Stade Rennais also finishing in Europa League spots. Monaco will be joining them as the 3rd French team in the competition, perhaps a big upset considering the club's quality and financial resources. Marseille finish outside the top 6 for the first time since the 2011/2012 season when they could only manage 10th, which will be a big disappointment for their fans who would've hoped for a much, much better campaign with the likes of Thauvin and Balotelli in the team. Montpellier will be playing against FC Lorient in the Ligue 1 playoff final to fight for their place in the first division, whilst Nantes and Nice have both been relegated down to Ligue 2 meaning both promoted sides from last season managed to stay up (with Nîmes finishing 14th)!

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Kenny Tete wins the Fan's Player of the Season at the Reims awards, whilst Brenner wins the Young Player of the Season award. With 18 goals, he was also the club's top goalscorer and ends a very successful first season in Europe on a good note. Thomas Foket was the unsung hero of the team, grabbing an impressive 12 assists from right-back/right-midfielder throughout the season. There were even more good news for Reims fans at the end of the awards ceremony: as it was announced that the stadium had been 90% full throughout the year, the board announced plans for the construction of a new stadium, surely in order to accommodate for Reims' European campaigns now were they to qualify again next season!

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Reims players did get rewarded for their incredible season, with Mendy winning the Goalkeeper of the Season award and featuring as the only non-PSG player in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year, whilst Antoine Fournier won the Manager of the Year award and Ojo, shortly after renewing his loan contract at Reims to stay until the end of next season, won the Most Promising Player in Ligue 1 award. Very impressive performances all around for Reims and they'll be hoping that Brenner improves even more next season to feature amongst the likes of Neymar and Mbappé in this Team of the Year next year! With an initial budget of £3 million with the potential to rise a little bit if Fourneir plays around with his wage budget (and gets rid of loanee Rahman, who was eating up almost £100,000 of the wage budget), it will be an exciting summer for Reims especially as they'll be looking to replace Gouiri, who will be going back to his parent club Lyon.

 

[WeArePalace]

What an amazing start! You must be ecstatic!

 

[leckuno]

Excellent first season mate. Will certainly be interesting to see what happens with the second now to see if teams still under estimate you

 

[FM_TNSSO]

What a first season that was my friend!! Amazing stuff!!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

What an amazing start! You must be ecstatic!

Excellent first season mate. Will certainly be interesting to see what happens with the second now to see if teams still under estimate you

What a first season that was my friend!! Amazing stuff!!

Cheers lads, I'm absolutely buzzing hahah! We were predicted to finish in 17th so when we kept getting good result after good result, I figured this would be my season! I really love being able to now attract really good youngsters as well, should help develop the club really well. As for next season, pretty sure I'll still be underestimated by both the media and other teams... In my previous Gladbach story, despite winning the Bundesliga 3 years in a row, the media still didn't predict me to finish above Bayern if I started a 4th season so I guess that tells you something about the game XD hopefully we're still underestimated so we can overachieve though, with the Champions League now to play we might need it!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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New-look Reims get off to fantastic start!

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With Champions League football to look forward to next season, it's clear that Fournier needed to beef up his squad massively in order to be able to compete. With an incredible 8 new arrivals and some very impressive signings such as Pellegri, Rajkovic and Coetzee, the Ligue 1 outfit certainly looks ready for the new season. A lot of deadwood was either sold or had their contracts resigned, which allowed the Reims manager to play around with the wage budget and spend a total of about £14 million (Pellegri's transfer fee spans £4.5 million over the next 3 years) and sell about £8 million worth of players, which is absolutely fantastic for the club.

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Reims fans will also be on top of the world right now with their 3-2 win against a full-strength PSG side in the Trophée des Champions to close off their pre-season, thanks to very late goals from Brenner and Almada who's already looking like a fan-favourite. After Cavani made it 2-1 in the 84th minute, it looked all but lost for Reims but 2 goals in 2 minutes of extra-time give les Rouges et Blancs their 2nd trophy win under new manager Fournier!

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With 4 wins in 4 friendlies and an impressive result against PSG, Reims fans and players alike will be feeling optimistic for the start of the season, especially as they play against Nîmes who were promoted last year, just like Reims. With the Champions League group stage draw also taking place in August, it's going to be a very proud month for French football fans.

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Speaking of their Ligue 1 season, it's fair to say that Reims are a completely different side than they were when Fournier took over! Predicted to finish 17th last season, they made it all the way to 2nd and can now be proud of a predicted 6th place finish, something which we're sure they'll be happy to take at the end of this season.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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PSG shocked by Reims for 2nd time this season!

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It was an incredible night at the Stade Auguste-Delaune for the hosts who managed to beat current Ligue 1 champions PSG for the second time this season after a 2-1 win, thanks to goals from Pellegri in the 58th minute and a winner from Brenner in the 88th minute, seconds before Cavani's goal in the 89th minute. PSG's bad luck this season continues and makes it their 2nd defeat of the season in Ligue 1 after losing to Lorient 4-1 last week, an even more-impressive result from the newly-promoted Bretagne-based side.

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Fournier's reputation of handling big matches well continued as just a week after their incredible 2-1 win over PSG, les Rouges et Blancs manage to beat Lyon 2-0 away from home with more goals from Brenner and Foket, who both continue their impressive rise in French football. Many of the big teams in France so far this season haven't performed at all and much like last season, teams like Reims have been able to capitalise perfectly. However, the hard work begins now for Reims who had their Champions League group stage draw later in August, and it's a tough one!

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It doesn't seem like a very favourable group for what many would consider to be French minnows, with tough and long trips to Italy, Turkey and Russia added to their busy domestic schedule. Juventus are of course the best side in the group but playing away against Besiktas and Zenit have never been known to be easy, especially in Russia with the weather conditions during the winter months. It will be very interesting to see how Reims do in their first Champions League appearance since the 1960s but fair to say not many people are too hopeful for them.

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Despite an unfortunate defeat to Nîmes in their opening game and a disappointing draw against Guingamp in their second Ligue 1 match of the season, Reims brought it back incredibly well with wins against PSG, Lyon and Strasbourg before the international break, making sure all the players are feeling confident before coming back and facing Marseille at home on the 14th of September and travelling to Turkey for their first Champions League match in almost 60 years against Besiktas.

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As mentioned previously, PSG, Marseille and Lyon are 3 of the big teams sitting below European spots, a shock to French football fans right now. Instead, we have Lille, Angers and Monaco all sitting at the top of the league with Reims and Ajaccio also level on points. Marseille and PSG are just a point behind but it is interesting to see how the table looks after 5 games despite having just 3 points between the league leaders and 13th place.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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SPORT: Close game between Reims and European giants Juventus

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What an incredible season this is going to be for Reims. After playing French 3rd division sides in the Coupe de France last season, they now find themselves playing at home against Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus. As much as Reims fans will be honoured to see such a great side play at their home ground, they will be slightly disappointed with the result against the Italian giants despite the expectations of a thrashing from Ronaldo's side.

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With a goal from Dybala to equalise in the 90th minute and a Ronaldo winner in the 94th minute, Reims lose out on 2 points in the space of just 4 minutes against arguably one of the best sides in Europe. As disappointing as Fournier was with the result, he did mention that he was incredibly impressed with his side's performance, especially given the number of young players in the team. He said he was very excited about his future at the club following some impressive wonderkid signings and is hoping that one day he and his team will be able to rival the likes of Juventus in European competitions. Allegri, Juventus' manager, also came out and praised Reims for their performance especially as he had claimed this would be an easy game for his side and ended up being nowhere near that for the Italian champions.

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Following their heartbreaking defeat against Juventus, Reims had to focus up again as they were hosting Monaco in Ligue 1 for yet another big match this season and les Rouges et Blancs fans were absolutely ecstatic to see their side come out as 4-3 winners, thanks to a 91st minute winner from Chavalerin and a 64th minute goal from former Monaco man Pellegri as well, who's had a terrific start to the season so far.

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The club's good form continued with a 2-2 draw against Marseille and an impressive 4-1 away win against Besiktas in the Champions League. Despite the lackluster performance against Angers which cost Fournier's side 2 points, Reims find themselves in the top 3 in Ligue 1 once again as they'll be hoping to qualify for the Champions League once again by the end of the season. Speaking of the Champions League, they are definitely doing better than many expected after 2 games and will hope that their next 4 matches will go just as well.

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PSG overturn a worrying start in Ligue 1 to climb back to the top of the league, with Amiens and Reims following not too far behind. Marseille, Lyon and Monaco all find themselves way below their standard and their fans will be dying for some better results in the coming months in order to get their respective sides back in the top 5 of the league. Another side who's been surprising (not in a good way) this season has been Saint-Étienne, who did so well last season but now find themselves in the relegation-playoff spots, just 2 points off rock-bottom of the league.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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Your 2019/2020 "Champion d'Automne", Stade de Reims!

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As we get to the end of December and as is tradition in France, the team leading Ligue 1 at the end of the first half of the season is crowned the "Champion d'Automne" (Autumn champion). Whilst it doesn't actually mean anything in terms of trophies or points, it is an honorary title that most eventual Ligue 1 winners get during their title winning season. In this 2019/2020, it's Reims who win the "title" ahead of PSG on goal difference, thanks to an incredible run of 10 games during which they won 8 matches, drew once and lost just once.

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These few games also saw Reims go on an unbeaten run in the Champions League, winning all but one game since their defeat to Juventus at home with a 1-1 draw against Zenit then a 4-1 win over the Russia side, a 3-0 win at home against Besiktas and an unexpected 2-1 win away against Juventus which sees them take 2nd place in Group A and go through to the 1st knockout round of the Champions League in their first season back in almost 60 years!

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Unfortunately for the Group A contenders, it does look like it'll be a tough tie in the next round. Reims drew Atlético Madrid, who are currently 2nd in La Liga and finished 1st of their group ahead of Lyon, Napoli and Young Boys, whilst Juventus drew Bayern who finished 2nd in their group with Manchester City, Spartak Moscow and RB Salzburg. The Italian side will definitely feel more confident ahead of their tie against the German giants but again, we had written off Reims completely in a tough European group for their first season back amongst the European elite and they not only managed to make it out but also beat Juventus on one occasion so anything is possible!

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Much like towards the end of last season, Reims and PSG have started to pull away a little bit but this time we're only 19 games in which promises an exciting title race in France. Ahead on goal different and with the best attack and 3rd best defence in the league, Fournier's side have once again been not only impressive but also dominant in a league campaign where they're looking set for another Champions League spot finish. Marseille and Lyon aren't too far behind those Champions League places while Monaco languishes in 13th place following Jardim's sacking earlier this season.

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After the winter break, it's fair to say Reims won't have the easiest of schedules! A home game against Lille starts them off in the Coupe de France 9th round but they'll then have to face 7th place Guingamp who have impressed this season. Incredibly, they'll still have another 2 home games following their last 2, one of which will be against Lyon in the Coupe de la Ligue quarter-final. They'll then have an incredibly tough series of matches with 2 away trips to PSG and Marseille, followed by a home tie against Atlético in the Champions League and one against Lyon in Ligue 1. Finally, they end off February 2020 with a trip to Monaco, against whom they'll hope to take some points considering the former French champions' form.