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Favre : “I believe 100% in Mario”
Four days after the derby against Monaco and three weeks following his return from injury, Mario Balotelli started the match against St-Etienne on the bench, before coming on ten minutes from time. The time needed to be able to strike a powerful shot with his right foot toward Moulin’s goal.
Questioned during his press conference, Lucien Favre firstly reminded the press that he believes “100% in Mario. I have said it and I repeat it, he has scored a lot of goals for us, goals without which I don’t know if we would be where we are today. We can’t forget that.”
Regarding his selection for the game, the Swiss coach said: “He is still missing something physically, or his movement and getting back into position. He has played a lot in the last few weeks. At Bastia, against Guingamp where he scored the third goal which was very important, and against Monaco. Tonight, it’s the coach’s decision, like every coach has to make in every country in the world. It’s a feeling, an intuition. And that’s all. It’s a match. And we already need to move on to the next one.”
CYPRIEN: "Mario will come back even stronger"
“He needed to get his breath back a bit, I think” said his teammate Wylan Cyprien in front of the press. “The coach makes his decisions, we shouldn’t discuss them. He tries to get the best out of everybody. I am not the coach, but if for him, he needed to rest him tonight so that he can be more fresh against Rennes, it’s a good solution, I think. Given that we got the win. And if Mario manages to play well on Sunday, it could have been the perfect decision from the coach.”
Lucien Favre stated that he explained his decision to the Italian international. “You always have to do it with the players.” His reaction? “It was fine”, responded the Nice coach, before he moved on to his immediate future: “I am banking on him for the end of the season. Football goes quickly. One day you are playing less well and the next, you are right at the top.”
The evening’s scorer was on the same page as his coach: “He has already been on the bench before in his career. And like it is for all professionals, it is never pleasant. Everyone wants to play. He is a superb player and I think he will come back even stronger.”
