During the press conference following the victory over Guingamp (3-1), Lucien Favre gave the way he saw the game and is already concentrating on the next game

Coach, we get the feeling that the Gym got itself into difficulty all on its own during this match…
It’s an opinion I share. In the first-half we were also in trouble at times, with a disallowed goal. Guingamp have a very strong press, pushing up very high, it wasn’t always easy to come out with the ball. In the second-half, we struggled to get out of our own half, we had our backs against the wall. In those moments, you need to use both feet and to be able to make 20 metre passes, if not you are in trouble. When we are under pressure, you also need to be able to play long, but we didn’t do enough of that.

Is it a relief to get this win?
It was a bit of a tiresome match… like all of them. Once again, Guingamp are a very athletic side, who push, win a lot of second balls thanks to the size of their team. We did our best to find answers to this aspect of their game. We scored our goals at key moments, especially the first two. I told my players at half-time to go and get the third goal, but Guingamp put us under pressure from the start of the second-half.

Was this game tougher than the others?
It was very difficult yes. However, Guingamp didn’t have any clear chances. But they pushed, we retreated and we suffered..

With this victory, you have put some distance between yourselves and other sides. Lyon   are 12 points away, Marseille 16 and Guingamp at 18…
We need to continue and we can’t concentrate any further than on our next match. On Saturday, it’s a very big match at Monaco. We need to carry on working because there’s lot of work to be done. What we do when there is lots of rhythm, it’s a little too much for me. 

How did you see the match of Mario Balotelli ?
He needs to get his rhythm back. I always tell you the same thing. He can do exceptional things, but he needs to work on his movement, his offensive marking. A little drop of the shoulder here and there. It will come… we are going to work on it!