Nice - Paris

"A positive pressure"

The battle would seem to be a tough one. It will deliver its verdict in two months. With 9 games to go and a gala match against Paris SG on Sunday, President Rivère described  his mood and his hope to see Le Gym finish in the European spots for a third consecutive season. 

What do you have in mind with 9 matches to go until the end of the season?

A hope to finish the season well, by trying to secured another European qualification, for a third straight season. We aren't the only ones battling for it. Quite the opposite, we have lots of competition for Europe, and nobody has that much of a lead. We will need to hold on until the end.

No lead, but a fact that could be decisive is that you will have the visits of two members of the competition, Rennes then Montpellier…

Of course, but on Sunday, we welcome Paris, before playing on the road five times, including against Marseille and Lyon. That's tough. We know that it will be difficult.  

The team has yo-yoed since the start of the season, but are still in the top 10 and in the battle more than ever... 

We have shown lots of inconsistency, with lots of good and bad runs. I hope that we have just begun another good period with the wins over Lille and Guingamp, and that they will continue until the end of the season. 

We have a team that plays and we are going to get back into the better weather conditions, our injured players are coming back bit by bit.... Now that we are only in one competition, the coach has the opportunity to prepare well during the week.  

We have a team that is capable of meeting its European objective. But it will be a question of maintaining the consistency in our results and performances, so that we don't play well for just one half in some games.

"We are gaining experience, bit by bit"  

What are Le Gym's strengths compared with its competitors?  

We have quality players, enthusiasm and we have now got a bigger squad available to us. We need everyone to give their all. 

The experience?

If we have this ambition, and with a young team like ours, it's because we are gaining experience bit by bit. We can clearly see the progress of our side in the Europa League in our last three experiences (Europa League play-offs in 2013-14, group stage in 2016-17, Round of 32 in 2017-18, Editor's note). That's why we are hoping for this progress.

It's stil too early to make conclusions about this season. Except from saying that one of the satisfactions will have been Europe... 

It is great to have met a first objective by getting out of the group stages, especially because of the number of games we played to get to the Round of 32 (10, Editor's note). But being knocked out against Moscow is a real disappointment. Napoli (in the play-offs of the Champions League) were above us and there was no battle, but there was room to go further against Moscow. 

How does a president prepare for an encounter against Paris St Germain?

On a sporting level? Like every other game. Of course, we aren't ignoring the quality of Paris. But when the players go out onto the pitch, it's to win matches. So what counts is to go out and look to get as many points as possible until the end of the season, no matter what team we face.  

Then, there is a notable difference:  on Sunday, to make the most of a full house. It's the best for everyone, for the atmosphere and for the players. Everyone loves that. It's the match of the year for our fans. But, on a personal level, I take it calmly. The team need to have a positive pressure on them in these kind of matches. If we lose, everyone will find it normal. But a positive result would be good for morale. 

"To get back some of the delay it has on its neighbours, French football needs to develop internationally" 

What is the idea behind this 1pm kick-off time? 

We are fully behind it. We have worked on this project in recent months. We can see that we are penalised with only 2 clubs in the  Champions League, whilst there is a country not that far away that has 4 that qualify directly. That changes the whole economy in football. French football needs to develop in this area to catch up on some of the delay it has on other European countries. French football needs to work regularly internationally. And that includes kick off times. Asia is an emerging market. It is an extremely important continent. It's tough to wake up at 3am to watch a league match, whatever game it is. Our neighbours understood it a long time ago by scheduling games at midday. This is a trial, the start of a story.

Can the French public welcome this?  

It's at 1pm, but it's not just any day. It's a Sunday. So that also gives the opportunity to plan a great pre and post match for our fans. There will be a lot of entertainment, a real Garden Party. It allows families to come, and for people not to need to leave quickly because it's late.  

Our supporters will come to spend an afternoon that goes well beyond the 90 minutes. This fixture also makes sense. Paris are known around the world. And OGC Nice have a Chinese shareholder. Having come from way behind, we are beginning to become known in China through various activities we are leading on both here in France and in China, where we have an office. To allow our Asian fans to also see the match is a good choice. It will only be good for OGC Nice. It's of benefit to all of French football.