After the defeat against Angers (0-2), Lucien Favre recognised that his side, which was more than depleated was not as concerned since 2nd place had become unachievable.

Coach, what did you think of that defeat in a game that had nothing really at stake?
We fell against a good side. They made some players work but they remain strong up-front with Bamba and Pépé, they move quickly into one on ones. We found that out at our own cost. Angers had more chances than us in the first-half. There is some easing off on our part, not enough marking. In the second-half, it was correct, we played a lot better. We could have scored from a corner at the end, there was, I think a penalty on Mario Balotelli. We continued to play before we conceded another at the end.

Your team has finished freewheeling a bit…
After our victory over Paris, the easing off is clear, and even more so after the victory that followed for Paris over Bastia which secured our place in the league. And, above all, we are missing people. It’s a shame not to finish the season unbeaten at home but it had to happen at some point. Now we need to go again!

In the post-match festivities, you received a standing ovation…
(smiles) They were there to thank us for this season. Whether there are 20.000 of them or 32.000 like this evening, they have always been 100% behind us. It was nice to see the stadium full.

In any case, you were at the top of the ‘clapometer’…
I don’t know, if you say so (laughs). But it’s something for the whole squad. We have done very well this season. We knew how to get success in the first matches when it was needed. We had some very difficult games. If we exclude the two last games, we have dominated games, except from in January and February when we had a lot of people missing. We managed to play well on the ball, all whilst pressing high. It is a magnificent season, but that means little.

With this third place,  Nice should have an impressive programme when they come back…
From the moment that there are the qualifiers, there will be a limited programme available… everyone knows that, there are too many games. In the coming days, there is also the U20 World Cup in Korea, after the Confederations Cup in Russia etc. It’s becoming crazy, it is beginning earlier an  earlier. We will have two preliminary rounds, maybe one if Ajax win the Europa League. That’s the way it is, it will begin early on, and the team will need to start ten days earlier than the other if we play in the 3rd preliminary round of the Champions League. 

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