Grenoble: an opponent and some memorable moments

To talk about the rivalry between Montpellier Hérault Sport Club and Grenoble Foot 38 is to open the history books and recall details that only the true fans and connoisseurs of the Pailladin club are likely to have kept in mind.

They undoubtedly marked 11 November 2005 as a very special day (photo above), the date on which Philippe Delaye scored a ‘Platinian’ free-kick that secured a 1-0 victory for the Hérault side. A classy piece of skill that prompted Thierry Goudet, the Isère coach at the time, to say: “I’d told the lads in the team talk that we mustn’t give away opportunities like that to a player with a foot like his, and we paid the price.”

A few months later, on 28 July 2006, it was at the Stade Lesdiguières – the predecessor to the Stade des Alpes (opened in February 2008) – that MHSC kicked off their ill-fated 2006–07 season. On that day, Montpellier’s star summer signing, the former Grenoble striker Robert Malm (pictured above), had got his Montpellier career off to the best possible start by scoring a brace that put his new team 2-0 up after less than half an hour of play. An ideal start – or so we thought – before a certain Hristo Yanev, a Bulgarian playmaker who had recently arrived in Isère, turned the match on its head and was involved in both late goals (85th and 90th minutes) that saw GF38 win 3-2. A nightmare scenario, punctuated by a double sending-off (Cissé and Montaño), which also heralded a gruelling season that nearly saw the Nicollin family’s club relegated to the depths of the National.

It took a certain Rolland Courbis to take the reins with four games remaining in the season to right the ship that was in danger of sinking. History will also record that the Marseille-born manager’s first successful relegation battle at MHSC culminated in a victory in the return fixture of the season’s final match at La Mosson, against Grenoble (1-0, goal by Victor-Hugo Montaño from the penalty spot). A victory immortalised by Rolland Courbis, who kissed the pitch as he had promised upon his arrival, at the final whistle. (photo above). This match on 25 May 2007 also marked the first appearance at the Montpellier stadium of a certain Olivier Giroud, then a young player for GF38 and future French champion with MHSC in 2012.

In the meantime, several other matches have left their mark on the history of the rivalry between Montpellier and Grenoble. Firstly, during the 2007–2008 season, when the Languedoc side began to fall behind in the race for promotion against the future promoted side from Grenoble following a defeat at the Stade Lesdiguères (the predecessor to the Stade des Alpes) on 12 November 2007 (2–0, photo above). A match that prompted Rolland Courbis to say in a fit of anger: “What do you want me to say? We’re defending like a primary school team.” Translation: his team had defended that day as naively as they would in a school playground.

The two clubs met during the 2009–10 season, which saw MHSC return to the top flight and ended with the Isère-based club being relegated to Ligue 2. Their first meeting that season (on 3 October 2009) marked MHSC’s first-ever appearance at the Stade des Alpes. It was a 3-2 victory, thanks to a brace from Nenad Džodić, who was carried aloft in celebration by his Pailladine centre-back partner Emir Spahić (pictured above).

Having also won the league return leg (1–0 in February), MHSC had, in the meantime, faced GF38 again at the Stade des Alpes in the ninth round of the Coupe de France (photo above). A mad match that ended 3-2 in favour of Grenoble after extra time, following which the tunnel leading to the Stade des Alpes changing rooms was filled with mist, symbolising the temperature difference – as cool outside as it was hot in the stands of the Grenoble stadium after a ‘caliente’ encounter. Grenoble’s manager at the time, Mécha Bazdarevic, had even had the nerve to go and introduce himself in the Montpellier dressing room after the match to calm things down.

Since then, GF38 and MHSC have not met again because, whilst the Languedoc club spent 16 consecutive seasons in the top flight, the Isère side went into administration in 2011 and fell all the way down to the amateur ranks before returning to Ligue 2 in the spring of 2018. The fate of the Dauphiné club was entrusted to former Montpellier player and coach Franck Rizzetto, who was appointed head coach in January 2025 and had helped GF38 avoid relegation from Ligue 2 last spring and make a fairly consistent start to the current season. However, he was sacked at the end of March following a run of seven games without a win and replaced by his assistant Frédéric Guéguen. Led by former Pailladin Clément Vidal (pictured above), Grenoble will be looking to pick up the points needed this Friday evening at La Masson to mathematically secure their survival… But Montpellier, who are in the race for the play-offs, certainly won’t be having any of that.

Photo credits: MHSC and Grenoble Foot 38 archives