Patrice Rio, allied with experienced Argentinians Ángel Marcos and Hugo Bargas, as well as Bayern Munich star Erich Maas enabled the club to turn its fortunes around and win the league in 1973. They also made the French Cup final but lost to Lyon. The club however could not break its European jinx: Danish amateur club Vejle eliminated Nantes in the first round of the European Cup. Results in the French league are good, although below that of high-flying club AS Saint-Etienne, but European results disappointed, year after year. In 1976, the club and José Arribas finally decided to part ways after 13 years together. Jean Vincent and Jean-Claude Suaudeau (1976 to 1988) New coach Jean Vincent was tasked with bringing more success in cups, both domestic and European. He started by reshuffling the team, putting aside a few stars and starting young academy players such as Loic Amisse, Eric Pécout and Bruno Baronchelli. The team still used a very watchable system of play and won the league in 1977, for the fourth time in its history. In 1978, the team finished second behind Monaco but European disappointments continued. That year, the club opened its start-of-the-art training complex La Jonelière (since renamed José Arribas Sporting Centre), the most advanced in France at the time. In 1979, Jean-Claude Suaudeau was promoted to assistant manager, and this association saw the club thrive, winning its first French Cup in 1979, while finishing 2nd in the league. And finally in Europe, the club enjoyed some success, reaching the semi-finals of the Cup Winners Cup competition where they lost to Spanish club Valencia. With Argentinian star player Enzo Trossero, and young up-and-coming academy players José Touré and William Ayache, the club remained 92 games unbeaten at home. Jean Vincent left the club in 1981, struggling to fit his new star striker, Yugoslav Vahid Halilhodzic, into Nantes system of play. Suaudeau took the reins by himself. He benefited from a star-studded defense, with French international goalkeeper Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes, centre-backs Patrice Rio and Maxime Bossis, and full backs Michel Bibard, Thierry Tusseau and William Ayache; Bruno Baronchelli still pulls the strings in midfield, helped by academy youngster Seth Adonkor protecting the defence; winger Loic Amisse enjoyed a purple patch in his twilight years; strikers José Touré (nicknamed 'the Brazilian') and particularly Vahid Halilhodzic enjoyed a great partnership. In their new La Beaujoire stadium, built for the 1984