The Ultras’ attack and the emergency call for the coach: a dark ending for the season of Nantes.
The match against Toulouse was supposed to be the formal conclusion of this difficult season. But it turned into a real scandal. In the 22nd minute of the match, fans of Nantes rushed onto the field, expressing their protest against the club’s disastrous results and management crisis. There was really nothing left for the team to lose. The team’s relegation from Ligue 1 was already inevitable, and the last few rounds no longer had any impact on the team’s standing in the table.
However, the main victim in this situation wasn’t the club itself, but its coach. For 65-year-old Wahid Khalilodzhic, this game was supposed to be the end of his career. What he saw on the stands and on the field triggered a heart attack, forcing him to be hospitalized immediately.
It’s fair to say that Khalilodzhic only took over as coach of Nantes last October, when the team was already in the bottom of the table. It wouldn’t be right to blame this veteran coach for the team’s poor performance. His departure wasn’t caused by sports-related problems, but rather by tragic circumstances at his home stadium.