the two-legged playoff between the winners of Group A and Group B of the 1985–86 Division 2. Mahut, who was a key member of the club's defence, surprised many by scoring 10 goals in 31 league matches and 1 goal in 6 domestic cup matches during the 1985-86 season which was by far his best ever goal haul in competitive matches in a single season in his senior club career. Racing Club de Paris enjoyed a good run in the 1985–86 Coupe de France, where it lost in the quarter-finals for the second season in a row. In order to perform well in the 1986–87 French Division 1 season, Racing Club de Paris broke the bank by signing high-quality, foreign and French internationals (Bernard Bureau, Luis Fernandez, Enzo Francescoli, Bruno Germain, Pierre Littbarski, Pascal Olmeta, Rubén Paz and Thierry Tusseau) as well as good, non-international players from France (Loïc Pérard and Jean-Luc Le Magueresse) in the middle of 1986. Despite the heavy investments in these star players, the club did not meet its own high expectations - it only finished in 13th position in the 1986–87 Division 1 table. During that season, Mahut played in 37 out of 38 league matches, but failed to score a single goal in any of them. The club changed its name to Matra Racing in 1987. Jean-Luc Lagardère was aiming for his club to qualify for one of the three UEFA competitions. In the summer of 1987, the club hired a new head coach, Artur Jorge, who had just guided Porto to victory in the 1987 European Cup Final. Four new players - Gérard Buscher, Merry Krimau, Thierry Fernier and Sonny Silooy - were signed for the 1987-1988 season. Matra Racing was in the top three positions of the 1987–88 French Division 1 table in the mid-season, but a run of 12 league matches without a single win resulted in it finishing in 7th position in the 1987–88 Division 1 table and missing qualification for the 1988–89 UEFA Cup. In his fourth and final season with the club, Mahut played 31 league matches and scored 2 league goals. Quimper Mahut had practically decided to retire from playing football in the summer of 1988. But when he was approached by the management of the Division 2 club Quimper, he changed his mind for he was very tempted by the challenge of trying to help Stade