Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Paul Pogba, Florentin Pogba meeting is 'beautiful' - St Etienne director

St Etienne sporting director Dominique Rocheteau hailed the meeting of Florentin Pogba and his brother Paul Pogba as "the beautiful story" of the Ligue 1 side's Europa League round-of-32 tie with Manchester United.

United midfielder Paul, 23, will go head-to-head with St Etienne centre-back Florentin, 26, after their clubs were drawn to face each other over two legs in the knockout stage.

"Florentin and Paul, it's a beautiful story," said Rocheteau, a member of St Etienne's iconic team of the 1970s.

"We're going to play one of the biggest clubs in the world. That's also why you play in European competition. We would have liked to have played them later in the competition." 

St Etienne's official Twitter account tweeted, 'OMG!' in reaction to the tie, which will also see Zlatan Ibrahimovic return to face Les Verts, with whom he had some memorable encounters while at Paris Saint-Germain.

Ibrahimovic scored 14 times in 13 competitive meetings with St Etienne during his four years in France, and also received the only red card of his Ligue 1 career against the 10-time French champions.

While United booked their place in the knockout stages with victory over Zorya Luhansk, St Etienne needed to come from two goals down to beat Anderlecht 3-2 to secure their own progress.

Neither side are in scintillating form domestically, with St Etienne's reputation having diminished since Rocheteau helped them reach the 1976 European Cup final.

"There is an overwhelming favourite," Rocheteau said of United. "We have drawn the top prize. I'm very happy for the fans who'll go to the stadium in Manchester. It's the top game of the round of 32, so it's magnificent."

^ Back to Top ^