PARIS (AP) — Strasbourg's push for a Champions League place is peaking at the right time under English coach Liam Rosenior.
The Alsace-based club is unbeaten in nine Ligue 1 games ahead of Saturday's trip to Monaco. A victory for sixth-placed Strasbourg would move it level on points with second-placed Monaco.
The top three teams earn an automatic place in the Champions League while the side finishing fourth enters qualifying. A complication for Strasbourg is being owned by Chelsea, setting up a breach of UEFA rules on multi-club ownership in its competitions.
“I’ve felt for a while that this group has something (special)," Rosenior said this week.
The attack is led by Dutch striker Emanuel Emegha, who has 13 league goals, and Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos, who has nine. The defense has kept six clean sheets in the past nine games — including a run of five straight games.
Monaco firing again
Strasbourg goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović will be tested at Stade Louis II by a Monaco attack which is also ending the season strong.
Mika Biereth has 12 goals in 12 games for Monaco and is particularly effective at home, where he has three hat tricks. He is combining well with Switzerland striker Breel Embolo and Japan's Takumi Minamino. Attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche has eight assists, the equal second-best tally in the league behind Bradley Barcola.
“We know Monaco is a team which likes to play. We’re keeping the same course, we’re not changing anything,” Rosenior said. Strasbourg “has lost only one (league) match in 2025.”
Football family
It has been a remarkable first season for 40-year-old Rosenior, who played in the Premier League for Fulham, Reading and Hull as a defender. His father Leroy Rosenior was a bustling striker with Fulham and West Ham in the 1980s.
Rosenior’s coaching career started three years ago with a brief stint at English club Derby, followed by taking charge of Hull. He was among the nominees last season for manager of the year in England's second-tier Championship.
Few observers gave him a chance of doing so well in his first season in charge in France, especially as he had only two weeks to prepare with his players.
“Preseason preparation was short, some players arrived late," Rosenior said. "We never really had all the players together.”
Chelsea ties
Chelsea's holding company BlueCo bought into Strasbourg in 2023. UEFA has rules aiming to protect competition integrity by preventing two clubs with the same owner from playing in the same competition.
Chelsea is currently sixth in the Premier League, where the top five will enter the Champions League. Chelsea and Strasbourg could both qualify together for the Champions League or second-tier Europa League.
In similar recent scenarios, UEFA required multi-club owners to divest from one club for the entire season, likely through a blind trust, and restrict cooperation between clubs on transfers and knowledge sharing.
Georgia on their minds
When bitter local rivals Saint-Etienne and Lyon meet on Sunday, two Georgia teammates will face each other — in good form.
Saint-Etienne’s Zuriko Davitashvili has scored seven goals and provided seven assists despite being in a struggling team. The fleet-footed Georges Mikautadze has nine goals for Lyon and has set up five.
While Saint-Etienne's defense is poor, with 67 goals conceded, the attack is dangerous.
Davitashvili is well supported by Lucas Stassin and the skillful Irvin Cardona, who scored twice last weekend in a 3-3 draw against Brest with a header and a deft lob.
“We’ll need everyone for this battle until the end,” Cardona said of the relegation fight.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press
