Press conference

Farioli: ‘Frustrating in terms of the result’

Francesco Farioli spoke at the press conference after Wednesday’s 3-1 quarter-final Cup loss in Paris. 

Coach, despite the defeat, your team played some good football. Are you optimistic for these final weeks of the season?
I'd say the match can be divided into two phases. For the first twenty minutes, we struggled to cope with PSG, who played with a lot of quality and mobility. Then we started playing with a little more courage. We showed that we wanted to play this match and for the next 70 minutes we saw a much more even contest, which could have ended 4-4 or 5-5. There were a lot of chances for both sides. I'd say it was a great advertisement for French football. When you come here to Paris, you know that you have to expect very high quality from the individual opposition players and also from the team as a whole. It is frustrating in terms of the result, but we can still be very proud of what we did here tonight. 

Compared to the first meeting here in Ligue 1 (MD5, 3-2 win for Nice), what changes did you notice in Paris Saint-Germain and the way they lined up this evening? 
I'd say that it was a similar performance from PSG, with players dropping deep to get the ball and then passing with great quality. When we regained our confidence after that difficult start, we were able to win the ball back higher up the pitch. Our confidence grew and I think we defended well and played better with the ball. We managed to build some dangerous passages, which unsettled them. I'd say we produced an excellent performance. But we have to accept the result, look to the future and congratulate PSG and their coach Luis Enrique. 

Marcin Bulka has had an excellent season. Tonight he made a mistake for the second goal. What did you make of that and what did you say to him?
At the end of the first half I complimented him. The hardest thing to do in football is to bounce back from your own mistakes. He kept playing and the team reacted well and we created chances. With the amount of pressure we were under, it’s normal that there are mistakes, but I thought we defended with a lot of character and leadership. In a full stadium like the Parc des Princes, to keep playing good football like we did deserves to be complimented.

How is his nose?
I think it’s broken. There was a lot of blood. We hope he will recover as soon as possible.