Tribute to Emiliano Sala: Nantes and Saint-Etienne pay tribute to the missing striker during a moving evening

Nantes paid tribute to his former missing player, Emiliano Sala, before and during Wednesday's Ligue 1 match against Saint-Etienne.

Guernsey police stopped searching for Sala on Thursday, who was aboard a Piper Malibu plane with pilot David Ibbotson when the plane was reported missing on Jan. 21 over the English Channel. Cardiff.

Sala had made a transfer to Cardiff the previous weekend and had returned to France to bid farewell to her colleagues in Nantes.

Nine days later, the authorities believe that the only trace of the plane found is two seat cushions discovered Monday.

After learning of Sala's disappearance, the match between Nantes and Saint-Etienne was postponed from four days to Wednesday. Nantes has organized several tributes during a day rich in emotions.

The Nantes players showed up on the field with jerseys all bearing the name of Sala, as well as the message "animo Emi", before placing themselves in front of a cover of the central circle showing the face of the attacker.

In the locker room, the club hung a shirt that also had a picture of Sala at the place where he would have usually dressed.

The visitors of Saint-Etienne wore jerseys "Pray for the Sala" during their warm-up.

The fans then deployed a huge tifo describing Sala just before the kickoff, starting the match with a catchy performance of his name.

And the referee stopped the game while the clock indicated nine minutes, allowing players to take part in the emotional applause of the attacker wearing the number 9.

The tributes were held one day after Sala's homage to the Emirates Stadium, where Cardiff faced Arsenal in his first match since the plane's disappearance.

Cardiff staff and fans wore daffodils. The flowers were also distributed as part of the official program of the day, in which Sala was part of the Welsh group.