The last line of defence and the cement of the dressing room, Yoan Cardinale (23 years old, 33 appearances this season) shines amongst a squad that has already made history. On Sunday, the Ciotat-born keeper will return to his home region for what promises to be a burning hot Marseille - Nice. The place in which he grew up as a professional and where his desire to play football was born…

“I am a Niçois, and I will do all I can to make sure Nice triumph over Marseille”

Yoan, have you all come down from the clouds after that victory?

Yes, we have. We made the most of Sunday night and our rest day on Monday, individually going back over the match at least 10 times. Then from Tuesday onwards, we got back down to work. When we think about it again, it brings huge satisfaction, a fantastic evening. All of the team played brilliantly, the stadium was full, the fans were excellent. You play football to live for those kind of moments and when you win them, it is even better. But anyway, Paris, that is now in the past. We are only thinking about the game against Marseille.

A Marseille - Nice three games before the season comes to an end, does that make it even more exciting?

There couldn’t be a better match at this moment in time! To beat Paris, to come out of the euphoria and to go into a derby in Marseille, there is nothing better. This match, it comes at the right time.

You were born in Ciotat, what do you feel before you head to face l’OM at the Vélodrome?

I have never played there. It is the only stadium in L1 that I haven’t played in, and in fact, it is maybe the one that I most want to play in. Also, I played for the l’OM when I was younger…

These younger years, do they flood back to you a few days before the match?

Of course, I grew up there. I was a ballboy at the Vélodrome, so to play in that immense stadium will be a huge source of pleasure. Especially because all of my family and friends have come from that region. We have called each other over the past couple of weeks. For me, it is THE match.

And what do they say to you when they call you?

That Marseille need to win, that I need to let them score and things like that (laughs)… I don’t have that mentality at all though. I am a Niçois and I will do all I can to make sure Nice triumph over Marseille.

What have you made of Marseille this season?

They are a very good side with a very good project. They came back during 2017 with their new coach, they have an attacking-minded approach, score lots of goals - as we saw last weekend against Caen (5-1 victory). We will need to be very careful.

Nice travel to Marseille with a 22 point lead, certain to be in the top three: if you told somebody that ten years ago, they would have thought you were crazy….

And it isn’t only me. Everyone from Nice would have said that I was saying something impossible. Today, we aren’t going to say that 22 points is normal, because it is huge, but Nice ahead of Marseille, that is fully deserved.

Does this lead make you the favourites?

I don’t know. I like being the outsider, when we aren’t expected to do something and we say: “they went there and won and we didn’t expect it. “ That shows that we have put in a great performance. If you are favourite, it’s something else, because even a draw, it’s seen as a poor result.

"I try to remain loyal to my values, a bit like the club"

When you are born in a region and you play your youth football there, do these derbies possess something a bit different?

It is always great to play them, especially when it is tight. I hope that our fans will be able to get into the Vélodrome, I saw that they had asked to appeal the ban. I don’t know if it has been confirmed and if they will be allowed in, but I hope that we will be able to celebrate the victory with them in Marseille.

What memories do you hold from the match last season?

How can you not remember the start? It was crazy, something that makes you even more motivated going into this one. On a sporting level, the match came a lot earlier in the season. Now, we are sure to finish in the top three: does that mean if we win, there will be the same taste as last year? Maybe yes, but I don’t know.

What do you mean?

Last year, it was more or less a surprise. This season, we needed to win and we secured that early on, and carried on that way. After the victory over St-Etienne, for example, we hadn’t had that sort of reception like we had had in the previous game, maybe that is significant. The fans say to themselves, we win and it’s normal whereas last season, that was a great result. That shows that time is moving on. 

Time is moving on and… Paris remain in sight!

That pushes us on. When you have a season like ours, you don’t want to stop yourself from looking at where Paris are in the table. That would be very stupid. But, honestly, we aren’t stressing about that. We aren’t saying to ourselves that we need to finish second because that will be very tough for us, Paris would need to stumble twice and we would need to win all three. But, in football, you never know what can happen.

Can you begin to realise the mark that this squad will leave in the history of this club?

We haven’t got the time to think about that, but after matches, we say to ourselves that we will be in the Gym history books. We have already made L1 history, because to be in 3rd place with 77 points, that has never been done before.

We get the feeling that we already heard that last season…

I spoke about it with Valentin Eysseric. He wasn’t here last season (loaned to St-Etienne), but everyone said that we were having a fantastic season and… we finished it on 63 points. This year, we have 77 with three games to go, we could potentially finish on 86. That is a brilliant season, but we haven’t quite come to terms with what we are in the process of achieving. 

Winning, would it become normal?

I am not going to say that. But it’s true that we aren’t used to losing either and when you win lots of games, you get the taste of victory because we are a team of competitors, that’s what is driving us forward.

On a personal level, this second season as number one is going in the same way as the last one.

The bar was set very high but it is equally as good. Then, it is a little bit harder, because during the first year, they said: “he has had a good season and now he needs to back that up.” The confirmation that there is always more difficult in football. This year, I have done all I can to show everybody that I could be the goalkeeper for this side. I have done all I can and I will continue to do so during the final three games.

Has your role changed within the squad?

I have always been someone who gets involved, in everything I do in life. And in the dressing room, I am always at the centre of “the messing about”, like before. On the other hand, what has made the success of this side is that everybody accepts the “messing about” from the others and we enjoy it together.

Your presence, it’s a good sign right?

That shows that it hasn’t gone to my head, that it hasn’t affected me and that I still have the same values, my principles and my weaknesses. It is what has helped me to improve, that and a constant self-analysis. I try to remain loyal to what I am, a bit like the club. You could almost say that I try to live in its image (smiles).

C.D.

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