After the last minute defeat at the hands of Lens, OM, in the image of Laurent Bonnart, want to pick themselves up in the derby against Nice.
Is this Nice-OM a real derby?
Yes, the Nice supporters are passionate and a match against OM is always special. The atmosphere will be great. It is up to us to respond present. It’s a derby but there are still three points at the end. The atmosphere is electric but things usually go well.
Nice have won four matches at home, which shows that when they play at their best they can beat anybody.
After the last defeat, are you obliged to win?
We always have to win, nothing has changed after the match against Lens, we will prepare for the match against Nice with the objective of winning and becoming more consistent. After Paris and Milan, it’s a shame to have lost. We need to be more consistent as we have six matches coming up before the break. We need to take a maximum number of points.
What do you think about this Nice side?
They had a tough start to the season. With their squad they can do better. They have won four matches at home, which shows that when they play at their best they can beat anybody. It will be a good duel. It’s up to us to do what we have to in order to win.
Will the presence, or not, of Loïc Rémy be important?
If he doesn’t play he will be replaced. But, yes he is important to their system and he can make the difference at any moment. If he doesn’t play, all the better for us, if he does we will have to be wary.
Is it difficult to prepare for the match with the big game against Real coming up?
No, we’re used to playing every three days. Nice is important as it is the next match. Then we will have two days to prepare for Madrid. We’re focused on Nice, Madrid come after, and anyway we have a big squad to dal wit these situations.
It’s a shame losing in the last minute, it’s cruel but we need to knuckle down and be able to bring home a point when we can.
Is OM’s position in the table worrying?
We’d prefer to be higher up … But we are where we deserve to be. There have been matches, like against Lens, where we did not perform as expected. It’s a shame losing in the last minute, it’s cruel but we need to knuckle down and be able to bring home a point when we can. We just have to get on with things. We’re six points behind with a game in hand. We still have hope in view of other results, but we cannot make any more mistakes. I don’t think the clubs ahead of us will. We have to make up lost ground. A season is long and we can still progress a lot. We can do a lot better and we need some positive results to build up confidence.
We saw last season that teams drop very few points along the way, notably towards the end of the campaign and it is better to be in front …
The points that we drop will make the difference come the end of the season. Last year the sprint home between ourselves and Bordeaux was ferocious. Our run was exceptional and Bordeaux did something extraordinary. Everyone drops points along the way. We can’t go back in time and we need to build for our future. That starts on Saturday against Nice.
We still have a chance to go through in the Champions League but we need to be more consistent.
How would you explain the difference between the performance against Milan and that against Lens?
Each match is different. I had more freedom against Milan, Lens played at 110% and didn’t let anything go. It’s never easy to get going again three days after a big match. You cannot compare the two encounters. If we had taken a point we would have been satisfied.
Do you think a qualification in the Champions League will come from a 3-0 win over Real or from a performance by Zurich against Milan?
If the two happened it would be better. It’s going to be difficult. We have to prepare well in order to win our match. We still have a chance to go through in the Champions League but we need to be more consistent. In Milan, we proved that we can rival the big clubs. The whole squad will give their all. If we are efficient and luck is on our side, we could go through.
It will take something special to beat Real 3-0?
We will need our public and we’ll have to go all out to get three goals against Real. We’ll see, we may suffer for 10 minutes before the match changes camps. It’s difficult to say, but we will have to let ourselves go without making any mistakes, as they will be very costly. We need to be crazy, yes, but without putting ourselves in danger at the back.
