As he sat in his press conference, two days before the Coupe de la Ligue match against Lille, Lucien Favre discovered that the Gym will face Lokomotiv Moscow in the Round of 32 of the Europa League. “I know Dynamo Kiev and CSKA Moscow better, as they played against Basel, admitted the Gym coach. Fred (Gioria) told me that they are top of the Russian league with a five point lead, so we can’t say that it’s a good draw, they aren’t there by chance. We will find out more about them, but they are a side who thoroughly deserve to be in the Round of 32.”

“It remains open” 

“It’s quite a tough draw because they are a good side, difficult to play against, continued Dante. I know some of their players, like Farfan... and he has quality.” For the captain, one of the keys to this double header, will be found on the Plaine du Var: “We need to put in a very good first leg. I have already played there (in Russia) with low temperatures, in difficult conditions, and it didn’t stop us from putting in good performances. It remains open, but it’s really down to us to make the most of the first match at home to be able to go there in a strong position.“

La réaction de Mickaël Le Bihan et Maxime Le Marchand en découvrant le tirage au sort du Gym pour les 16es de finale d'Europa League pic.twitter.com/y3BXdfgRJW

— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) 11 décembre 2017

---