Beaten 2-0 in the first leg, Strasbourg managed to turn the situation around to win 4-0 against Mainz on Thursday. For the first time in their existence, the Alsatians qualified for the semi-finals of a European Cup. They will face the Spaniards Rayo Vallecano on April 30 and May 7.
Published on: 04/17/2026 - 00:25 Modified on: 04/17/2026 - 00:57
A demonstration for history. By dominating Mainz (4-0) on Thursday April 16, RC Strasbourg reversed the course of its Conference League quarter-final, a week after its defeat (2-0), and reached the semi-finals of a European Cup for the first time.
This new European chapter will be written against Rayo Vallecano on April 30 and then on May 7, in an affordable double confrontation for the Alsatian club given what it showed on Thursday evening.
There was something premonitory in the flight of these storks in the Alsatian sky at the moment when the supporters were massing towards Meinau, like the impression that the emblem of Racing was going to watch over him, help him in his European quest.
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Strasbourg had to make a perfect copy and did so, dominating the debates with some high-class individual and collective actions, intense as is necessary in these European meetings, and tactically on point.
To reverse the first leg disadvantage (2-0), Gary O'Neil opted for Julio Enciso, Sebastian Nanasi and Martial Godo to lead the attack rather than Emmanuel Emegha to replace Joaquin Panichelli.
A choice that paid off as this trio shattered the German defense, in particular Enciso, who had an exceptional match by being involved in all four of his team's goals, whether creating or finishing.
A magical evening for the Alsatians with four goals scored
After a first opportunity in favor of the Germans (7th), the match took a fairly classic turn with Strasbourg initiating the game and Mainz with a view to protecting its advantage and planning counter-attacks as soon as possible.
An incident in the game would have quickly given Strasbourg an advantage, when Dominik Kohr was penalized with a yellow card and not a red card for an elbow in the face of Diego Moreira, then in the middle of a race (19th). But that didn't change the outcome of the match. Because the Strasbourgers, pushed by a packed and noisy Meinau, ended up cracking the German block by multiplying crosses and quick combinations.
Sebastian Nanasi launched his team's comeback, receiving a cross from Ben Chilwell, launched by Julio Enciso, before rushing to place the ball in the central circle (26th). Then Abdoul Ouattara, with a header, reset the counters to zero in the 35th minute of play by taking a perfect cross from Julio Enciso.
The Germans then lost the thread of their match, conceding new chances (39th), sometimes because of restart errors (41st, 45th+1).
After a first act largely in its favor, Racing decreased a little in intensity at the start of the second, despite a weekend without a match, thanks to the postponement of its Ligue 1 meeting granted by the Professional Football League (LFP).
But it was only to sting even harder. After a penalty caused by Valentin Barco and missed by Emmanuel Emegha (66th), who entered the game eight minutes earlier, the RCSA scored a third goal thanks to Enciso, again, who took advantage of a wonderful solo action from Martial Godo (69th). Then the Paraguayan offered the fourth goal to Emegha with an ideal cross after wandering between several German defenders.
Only the yellow card received by Barco, suspended during the half-leg, and a general scuffle at the final whistle, tarnished a dream evening for the Alsatians.
Their European adventure continues and just needs to go to the end.
With AFP
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