The return of Mathieu Cafaro to ASSE, scheduled for this Saturday against FCNantes, has a double meaning for the former Greens winger. After an injury which kept him away from the field, he is preparing to reunite with his former coach, Geoffroy Guichard, in a setting which reminds him of the difficult start to the 2023-24 season for his new club.
Cafaro, 29, wore the green jersey for three seasons before joining FCNantes. Since his arrival, the club has had a complicated start to the campaign, marked by poor form and lost points. The player has been hampered by injury and, to date, has recorded just one assist and no goals in seven appearances, six of them as a starter. FCNantes, for its part, is struggling to find its rhythm, having already lost numerous points despite ambitious recruitment. Their last home defeat, 2-3 against Dunkirk, highlighted their defensive weaknesses.
In an interview with the newspaper *Le Progrès*, Cafaro compared the current situation of FCNantes to that of ASSE after its relegation to Ligue 2. “It’s a bit hard at the moment. It makes me think of the first year with the Greens when the club had just gone downhill. We had a tricky first six months…” he declared. He recalled that, under the leadership of Laurent Batlles, ASSE had gone through a dark period before regaining serenity in the second half of the season. Cafaro hopes to avoid a similar scenario with Nantes, where the arrival of Grégory Poirier has brought hopes, but has not yet resolved all the problems.
This Saturday's match pits ASSE, now leader of Ligue 2 under the leadership of IanCathro, against FCNantes who are looking to recover. Cafaro expressed his excitement about returning to the Cauldron, while acknowledging the difficulty of playing against his former team. “I know it’s going to be hard, Sainté is performing very well this year. In any case, I am very happy to come back to the Cauldron,” he added. He also stressed that the Saint-Étienne locker room had changed since his departure, and that he would find few players with whom he really played.
In conclusion, Cafaro remains attached to his former club while fully committing to FCNantes' recovery mission. He wants the Greens to continue aiming for promotion, while hoping he can play a nasty trick on his former team in a stadium he is so familiar with. This Saturday's match will therefore be an emotional moment, both for the player and for the supporters of both teams.