eliminating Juventus after a superb performance in the return leg at home. However, Nantes continued to sell its best players, with Karembeu and Loko sold in 1995 and Ouédec, N'Doram, Makélélé, Benoît Cauet and goalkeeper David Marraud sold in the following two years. In 1997, frustrated by this, Suaudeau left the club and Denoueix took charge. The academy cane to the rescue once again, and nimble, technical, players such as Stéphane Ziani, Olivier Monterrubio, Eric Carrière, Mikael Landreau and Frédéric Da Rocha enabled the club to win two French Cups in a row (1999 and 2000) before winning the league in 2001. Denoueix's departure for Real Sociedad impacted the club somewhat, but Nantes still managed a French Cup semi-final, a League Cup final and 6th place in the league in 2004 under coaches Angel Marcos Loic Amisse. Down and out (2005 to 2013) Nantes finished last in the league in 2007 and were relegated, triggering a pitch invasion and protests by fans. 44 consecutive seasons in the top division came to an end. In the summer of 2007 summer the club was sold to business Waldemar Kita. While the club had only five managers between 1960 and 2000, in the decade 2000 to 2010 ten were employed and sacked. The club was promoted back to the top division in 2008, only to be relegated again the next season. Nantes then finished in 15th place in Ligue 2 under the management of three different coaches. Back to the top (2013 to present) Ex-player Michel Der Zakarian took the helm in 2012, leading the club to promotion from the 2012–13 Ligue 2, with 20 goals from Filip Đorđević. The team made it to the semi-finals of the 2013–14 Coupe de la Ligue, losing 2–1 at home to PSG. In April 2016, after a tense relationship, club president Waldemar Kita announced that Der Zakarian would leave at the end of the season. René Girard was sacked after 15 games with Nantes second from bottom in December 2016, and was replaced by Sérgio Conceição. He took the team to 7th place, but left in June 2017 for FC Porto to be closer to his family. Following brief spells by Claudio Ranieri and Miguel Cardoso, former Nantes player Vahid Halilhodžić was hired in October 2018. The following January, the club transferred Argentine striker Emiliano Sala to Premier League club Cardiff City for £15 million; he