If you were looking for a Ligue 1 side likely to be dumped embarrassingly out of the cup, Montpellier would seem worth a flutter; after an underwhelming start to the season they are 17th on 17 points, with a new / old manager yet to bed in, problems scoring, and facing Monaco in game 20, so many lower-league teams might fancy their chances against the 2011/12 champions.
The RAF prepare for take-off
Rodez Aveyron Football are sixth in CFA group C, having scored 17 and conceded 15 in thirteen games; with a team full of locals and the usual scattering of players who have played youth or B-team football for teams such as Toulouse, Lyon, Bordeaux and Nice (and a goalkeeper Damien Rascle who has turned out for Kilmarnock), RAF have had a slightly difficult start to their cup campaign. They twice needed penalties to see off lesser opponents (DH side Girou in the 5th round, and DHR La Tour St Clair in the 7th), and in the last round it took a penalty to win 1-0 against Toulon (DH) who played half the match with ten men.
Victory at Stade Paul Lignon
Their one home game was the best result, a 2-0 victory over CFA2′s St Alban, Alexis Carmo and Loic Coupin with the goals. Greeting La Paillade at the 6,000 capacity Stade Paul Lignon (tickets selling fast) could therefore be a big advantage – as intended by the cup rules, to help level the playing field by allowing the smaller teams to play on theirs. Nobody seems to have more than 2 goals in the league, but they did also manage to beat CFA group leaders Monaco B away, Carmo and Mansour Boutabout with the goals as they came from behind against Le Rocher Reserve featuring players such as Coulibaliy, Pi and Poulsen.
Montpellier, meanwhile, have won only two games this season, against Sochaux and Lyon, the last of which was back in early October – Sochaux then got their revenge by kicking them out of the Coupe de la Ligue. New / old manager Rolland Courbis took charge after a 2-0 defeat at home to Lorient that was their eighth straight match without a win, since when they have taken two points from away trips to Toulouse and Bastia, and lost at home to Saint-Etienne, scoring a grand total of one goal in those three matches. That’s really the key problem for them in the top-flight – they have 18 goals in total in the league, Remy Cabella the top scorer with six, and the official strikeforce is in some trouble: returning hero Victor Hugo Montano has four, Souleymane Camara has two, summer signing Jean Deza is injured, Emmanuel Herrera largely unseen…M’baye Niang is coming in on loan from Milan, but he hasn’t scored in 18 months in Serie A. While the Ligue 1 team should have enough to see off a CFA opponent, that lack of firepower is worrying for them – you get the feeling that if RAF hold their nerve and a firm defensive line, they could just pull this off, three divisions below or no.
Trivia - RAF have Zinedine Zidane as a minority shareholder. They were having some financial problems, and Mme. Zidane is from the area – Zizou stepped in with financial support and a publicity-raising event.
Odds – Betclic has Rodez 15/2, draw 7/2, Montpellier 1/4.