On May 30, the final match of this season's French Ligue 1 ended in tragedy. For Reims, the past five days have been a nightmare. They first lost 0-3 to Paris Saint-Germain in the French Cup final and missed the championship. In the second round of the French Ligue 1 promotion and relegation play-offs that just ended, they lost 1-3 at home to the French Ligue 2 powerhouse Metz, losing 2-4 in the two-round aggregate score and were relegated to the French Ligue 2.

In the first round of the play-offs, Reims drew 1-1 with Metz away from home, bringing back a crucial away goal. In the second round at home, Reims scored the first goal in the 57th minute with the assist of Japanese international Junya Ito and Mattia, and once saw the dawn of relegation. However, the good times did not last long, as Udon equalized the score in the 78th minute, dragging the game into overtime.

In the extra time, Metz exploded. In the 110th minute, Toure scored a goal to overtake the score. Four minutes later, Ain scored a world wave to seal the victory. The fans of Reims fell into silence. Junya Ito slumped on the grass after the game, looking lonely and distressed.

Since being promoted to Ligue 1 in 2018, Reims has been stable in the top league. They were in good form at the beginning of this season and once ranked in the top half of the standings. However, after entering the middle and late stages of the season, their form plummeted, and they failed to win more than a dozen games in a row, eventually falling to 16th place and being forced to participate in the play-offs. Now it has ended in failure and can only move to Ligue 2 in the new season.

Within 5 days, Reims lost the French Cup final and was eliminated in the play-offs and relegated. Reims has undoubtedly become the "worst team" in French football this season. But for Metz, this victory is of great significance. After two years, they finally returned to Ligue 1 and opened a new chapter.