Questioned by the media before Bastia-Nice, Lucien Favre calmly brought up a number of areas of interest. Three of those topics discussed at the press conference are detailed below.

The weight of the absentees in the Nice squad

“I don’t really like talking about that. Of course it is a shame, there are a lot, it’s huge… But that is the way it is, there is no point in moaning about it. We will continue to work hard and that’s all. We can’t do anything; we are not going to put Ricardo on the pitch for example. It’s part of the game and that makes things more difficult. You have to deal with it. We are having a bit of bad luck at the moment but it is difficult to measure.”

Are you disappointed after losing 1st position?

“Definitely not! Nice had been top since the sixth game, it good like that. There will always be other teams, they are trying to catch you, it can be close. But disappointment, to be honest no.. To be in the top 3 at the end of the season? We don’t know which ‘top’ we will be in, top 3, top 4, top 5…”

Bastia as opposition

They are a team that is always well organised. They play with various systems, they change a lot. We think it is a 4-3-3, but suddenly, it’s a false 4-3-3, with a diamond 4-4-2 that is formed. After 25 minutes against Marseille, they turned to a 5-3-2. There are really lots of changes, both during a match and throughout the season, sometimes they even play a 4-2-3-1. They are very difficult to figure out.” 

---