Lucien Favre spoke to the press ahead of the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32 clash against Lokomotiv Moscow (kick-off on Thursday 7pm).

Coach, is the break that Lokomotiv currently find themselves in something to take into account in terms of the rhythm?
It’s possible. The have had a long break, but they have played 8 friendlies and used 14 players. There were 2 or 3 changes each time and almost always with a set team, apart from on two occasions where they changed the whole team at half-time. These were friendly matches but they prepared well. They are well-oiled. 

What do you make of this team?
It’s not by chance that they are 1st in Russia. They are very solid. They can play in very tight spaces, they combine in threes and fours. In the last 25 metres, they link up very well too. They are also capable of countering, they run a lot. The two or three central midfielders play "box to box" without stopping, they push on and drop back. Their team is very compact, but like all teams, they have certain things where…

And in terms of individuals?
Farfan played at Schalke, the Miranchuk brothers are very strong, they also have Manu Fernandes on the left, who participates a lot in their attacking game. They play in a 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1, are very complementary. Pecjinovic (who he coached at Hertha Berlin, Editor’s note)? He is undeniable and plays with Kvirkvelia: they make a nice pair of centre forwards.

Efficiency and patience

What will you say to the youngsters?
Speak to them individually. Of course it’s the Round of 32 of the Europa League, it’s special. It’s good for the club to be here, amongst these huge machines, with the perspective of continuing. We will need to be hugely efficient and fully concentrated throughout the 95 minutes, because it comes down to nothing. If there is a chance, go for it with 100%, defend very well, don’t concede at home if possible, because it counts as double. It’s the efficiency that will make the difference. And patience.

Are you not worried by the lack of efficiency offensively in the last couple of games?
Not at all, because as I already said: against Metz, we played 55 minutes with 10 men, we could have scored before but we created chances. There were 4 against Toulouse and, unfortunately a penalty that wasn’t given; we played well against Dijon even though we conceded 3.

Wylan Cyprien and Allan Saint-Maximin, will they be available to start?
Yes, given that they played 25 minutes at Dijon. To last the match is a different question, because they are coming back after a period out. Cyprien returns after 10 months out, so there will often be little things like that. We need to carefully manage his matches, maybe letting him miss one or two every now and then and to be careful that he doesn’t relapse again. Saint-Maximin, it’s different. It was a knock, it should be alright.

Will the way that your side plays need to change given that you can’t afford to concede?
No. Not to get caught on the break, not to lose the ball too dangerously when we have committed, to make the right choices, that is the most important. We don’t talk about “calculating” but, the Europa League, it’s different. We are not going to change our philosophy, we will still try to play the game. But we will need to do so intelligently, taking the right risks, going for it, but at the right time. Because the big teams are already thinking of defending when they are attacking, and when they defend, they are already thinking about attacking…

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