Thank you, Metz: ‘King Georges’ grateful for second chance in Ligue 1 | Eric Devin

In Ligue 1’s maiden season with 18 teams, one had the feeling that some had little chance of staying up. Fewer teams theoretically projects to a higher average standard, but it also means sides lacking in quality are likely to be found out.

That axiom has generally held true – through the course of the season, most sides, even in the bottom half, have been able to call on a player who is superlative in their position, or at least capable of conjuring something out of nothing. Le Havre may be an exception owing to the hard-driving ethos put in place by Luka Elsner but Nantes (Moses Simon), Montpellier (Téji Savanier) and Toulouse (Thijs Dallinga) all have players with a bit of magic.

Even Clermont have had goalkeeper Mory Diaw in top form in many matches, while Lorient received a boost with the arrival of Mohamed Bamba in the January window – the Ivorian scored six goals on his arrival and if Les Merlus end up avoiding the drop, their strong run of form will have made the difference.

Every team, that was, except Metz. At the end of matchday 23, Les Grenats were level on points with bottom side Clermont, five adrift of Lorient in 16th, who occupied the relegation playoff position. Lamine Camara had impressed in stretches, but no player had found the net more than three times. Metz, the archetypal yo-yo club, looked to be heading down.

What fans of the eastern side didn’t know at that point, though, was the prodigious impact the returning Georges Mikautadze would have on the team’s fortunes. The Lyon-born Georgia international had scored twice in the club’s first two matches of the season, which included a creditable draw against Marseille, but his deadline day sale to Ajax, on the back of his having helped his side to promotion while winning the Ligue 2 Player of the Year last season left Les Grenats without a focal point or a creative influence.

Despite having helped his national team to a historic qualification for the European Championships, life in the Eredivisie was another story. Ajax’s season was the stuff of nightmares by the club’s sky-high standards, and Mikautadze was a forgotten man, despite his €16m price tag.

Speaking recently to L’Équipe, he reflected on his spell in Amsterdam as being one of isolation.

“I spent more than two months in a hotel. I was alone in this room, I was going crazy, and the club didn’t help me much in looking for an apartment. In the fall, we rented an Airbnb and the whole family came to live with me for over a month. I didn’t know anybody, I didn’t speak the language: the conditions were not met for me to succeed. All players need to feel good about themselves, to feel respected to perform. At Ajax, I was forgotten.”

While still contracted to the Dutch club, Mikautadze has been back to his best since making a return on loan to Metz in January. His reintegration to the team was incremental, and in his first two starts failed to produce much, with the team suffering a pair of 1-0 losses against Nice and Toulouse. Slowly, though, he began to rediscover the sort of form that had facilitated Metz’s immediate return to the top flight.

A goal in a close defeat to Lyon in late February was his first since returning to the Stade Saint-Symphorien, and he followed that with two more in wins over relegation rivals Nantes and Clermont. Mikuatadze has truly taken flight since the international break, with the team scoring nine goals over their last four matches, five of them by Mikautadze.

Granted, their defensive frailties (only Lorient have a poorer defence this season) have meant the club only won two of those matches, but with four wins from their last eight matches, the club have incredibly pulled themselves clear of not only the automatic relegation places but into 15th.

The latest of these victories came on Sunday away to Le Havre – one of four teams (along with Nantes and Lorient) who are hoping to avoid joining Clermont in dropping into Ligue 2 – and it was again Mikautadze who scored the only goal.

Nicknamed “King Georges” by the club’s fans, it’s clear that Mikautadze, now appreciated again, is eager to repay that faith on the pitch. “My presentation before the match against Clermont in the Coupe de France was magnificent, a breath of fresh air. Coming back here has done me lot of good. I’m trying to do my utmost to keep the club in the top flight because they deserve it. I came back because I didn’t want to leave them facing the drop – Metz is my second home.”

The club face a daunting end to the season, as they’re set to take on European hopefuls Lille and Rennes, local rivals Strasbourg and PSG before the end of the campaign, but with a motivated Mikautadze, survival remains a distinct possibility.

Talking points

• Surely that’s job done for Monaco and Lille regarding Champions League qualification? Both sides won at the weekend, and while they will face each other in midweek, both have a game in hand over Brest (who would drop to fourth unless the principality side win).

• Lille were always likely to be leggy after playing extra time in Europe, but Les Dogues attacked from the off against Strasbourg, snatched a goal (Jonathan David, who else?) and then held on. Monaco had no such worries about fatigue, but a trip to Brest off the back of the news that Aleksandr Golovin’s season is likely over was hardly ideal. Like their northern counterparts, though, Adi Hütter’s side kept Les Pirates at arm’s length, extending Monaco’s unbeaten run to seven and moving into second place.

• Finally, PSG’s procession towards a third successive Ligue 1 title took another step with a 4-1 win over Lyon on Sunday. The visitors have been the league’s second-best team since the turn of the year, and were brimming with confidence, especially with European rivals Reims and Marseille dropping points. But Lyon scarcely had a chance to get their bearings, conceding twice in the first seven minutes against a PSG side who were imperious even without Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Should Monaco fail to win on Wednesday, a victory for the leaders would secure the title, allowing them to focus on next week’s Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund.