The win here, and Krasnodar’s home loss to Schalke, was the perfect scenario for Nice...
It’s perfect to keep our hopes alive a little longer. We will take it one match at a time. Winning today was very important to have a chance of staying in the hunt for the knockout phase. Now we are going to focus on Metz in three days, before concentrating on the next Europa League game (on 3 November at Allianz Riviera against Salzburg).

Despite the victory, your team didn’t always have control. What do you think of the game?
This is European football. You mustn’t think that we could control a match of this importance for the full 90 minutes. For Salzburg, I think this game was similar to the one that lost against Krasnodar (0-1).
We could have had more opportunities, if we had played a little better in the first half. Our penultimate pass wasn’t always the right one. We were very happy to be leading 1-0 at half-time. That’s enough. In the second half, we never really got going. I don’t know if we were tired. It was as though we were surprised every time we won back possession, and as a result, we lost it again too quickly. It’s going to take us many months of hard work to rectify this type of problem.

Were you surprised by Salzburg’s starting XI?
No. When you play the Europa League, the matches are just three days before a league clash. Changes are normal.
They played very well, pressing our 3-5-2. They turned over a lot of possession, but also had chances, they stretched us to the very limit. They have now lost all three games, but I saw their first two games and they played very well.

'It would have been a shame to throw in the towel'

Sitting top of the Ligue 1 standings, you could have been tempted to rest players for the league...
I think everyone in the club, and around the club, would have been disappointed if we’d decided not to give ourselves our best chance in the Europa League. We lost two games and that was disappointing, but it was against two very good sides. We know it won’t be easy to qualify, but it would have been a shame to have thrown in the towel, just halfway through the group stage.

You came here ten years ago with Zurich. How do you compare Red Bull Salzburg between now and then?
I remember that match very well. In the first leg, we played very well and won 2-1, even if we could have scored five or six goals – even Trapattoni admitted it. In the return leg, we got caught out on their artificial pitch.

Plea?
A good striker isn’t only about scoring goals. Everyone has a job to do. I’m very happy for the way he scored his goal. He won back possession with a good pressing and then slid the ball home between the legs of the ‘keeper.

The supporters?
They were magnificent. We saw them in town this morning, we knew that they were here bright and early. We thank them! We were surprised to see so many supporters in the stadium!

Did you know that tonight was OGC Nice’s first-ever away win in European competition?
No (smiles). It’s a great result for everyone. If you lose your first three matches, nobody cared about the next three. Nobody in Nice has forgotten Limassol, three years ago. It’s a reminder that there’s no such thing as an easy match in Europe.

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