As planned, Adrian Ursea made the most of the final match of the group stage of the Europa League (a 1-0 defeat to Hapoël Beer-Sheva) in order to give match time to certain young players from the Academy.

Ben Seghir, the youngest

At only 17 years old, Salim Ben Seghir made his first steps as a professional on November 29: in the home match against Dijon (1-3), the young forward came on six minutes from the end. For his first European match, he enjoyed much more match time as Adrian Ursea threw him on at the start of the second half (46') to replace Rony Lopes. Always active, the French Under-17s international didn't hide in the duels with the rugged Hapoël defenders.

​

Pionnier, consistent and rewarded

Present, like Ben Seghir, at the friendly tournament in Lyon last summer, Théo Pionnier "is the one who has had the most training sessions with the professional squad this season," as Fred Gioria explained before the game. Serious and applied, the youngster from Gap was rewarded for his consistency on Thursday, with a first start for the first team. The 18-year-old defender made the most of it to show his versatility. Trained up as a centre-half, he started on the right side of defence, before moving to the left when Racine Coly went off, before getting back to his favoured side, where he showed his battling qualities.

Crétier took over

In the 80th minute, Gym lovers were - well some of them - made to feel old. Or young, depending on their standpoint. Théo Pionnier left his place on the field to Noah Crétier, son of Thierry, the Coupe de France winner with the Gym in 1997. The 19-year-old defender, also trained up to play centrally, played the final 10 minutes of the match at right-back.

Mahou, the return

After appearing for the first time in 2016, also during a group stage Europa League match (2-1 against Krasnodar), Hicham Mahou hadn't played for the Gym first team since December 2018. The forward made his return in an inhabitual full-back position, following the injury sustained by Racine Coly. First on the right, then on the left, the player from nice (21 years old) put in a serious match defensively, and added some spark when pushing forward.

---