Despite a clear domination, OM could not overcome Lazio this Thursday evening at the Stade Vélodrome, chaining a frustrating fourth draw in a row in the Europa League (2-2).
What analysis do you make of the match tonight?
It is a game that we should have won, and this draw is a blow because we looked for victory until the end but we were not rewarded. It was a difficult game, we were superior in the first half and we took those two goals on both sides of the break… We didn’t back down and continued to play for the win. We are not really successful in this competition, we have two games left that we have to win now.
Do you feel unfair about your results compared to the services provided in the Europa League?
There is no justice in football. We are up to the task in terms of courage and personality, and I think that if we put the same conviction in the matches to come, maybe there will be qualification at the end. We must continue to seek victory, even if we still have strong teams to face.
What did you want to achieve with your changes in the second half?
We tried to change the system to provoke more one on one. Valentin (Rongier, editor’s note) was put back in the middle to bring more balance against a strong team defensively, and to break up spaces as much as possible. We also wanted to change to better attack from both sides, alternating a blow to the right and to the left. The goal was also to be able to split with Pol (Lirola, note).
Individual mistakes are costly tonight, do you nevertheless keep at all costs this desire to systematically start from behind?
It’s more a question of form than substance for me. We need to be more careful with this kind of ball, we have to better manage these phases of the game. Honestly, I’m more concerned with the first goal than the second. Tonight, we always left from behind and it worked pretty well I think.
There were still object throws, what is your view on that?
It’s a shame, it doesn’t make sense… We controlled the game, this attitude is necessarily negative, it’s not good behavior. We are still in a very open group, there are two matches left, I am concentrating on that and on qualifying to seek.
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