Having picked up their first win of the 2026–27 campaign on Sunday by beating Lille 2–1, Les Aiglons are now facing up to their first international break of the season. Why, though, is it three weeks long?

The answer is simply that what used to be two separate, 15-day international breaks in September and in October respectively have now been combined into a single, 21-day period.

Pantaloni: “THERE ARE UPSIDES AND DOWNSIDES TO IT”

Olivier Pantaloni was asked to comment on the new format of this international break in his press conference ahead of last weekend's victory at home to LOSC. “There are upsides and downsides to it,” the coach explained. “The upside is that the players who joined or returned to the squad late can prepare as well as possible for when we start playing again, but the downside is that many of our players have left for international duty, so the squad will be almost 50% comprised of players from the Elite academy squad. The priority is to get those who are staying with us to reach their peak by the end of these three weeks.”

Following this break, which will include a behind-closed-doors friendly match, Le Gym will be at home to Strasbourg at 15:00 CEST on Sunday 11th October.