Although it is traveling in unknown territory, FC Nantes intends to strike a blow in the group stage of the Europa League, this Thursday evening. In the event of success against Qarabag, the sole leader of the Azerbaijani championship, the Canaries would automatically be assured of retaining the lead in group G or, at worst, of sharing it with Freiburg. And although the Yellows have not shown themselves to their advantage outside Beaujoire, since the start of the year, with only one success in the league, midfielder and vice-captain Ludovic Blas intends to confirm that FC Nantes has a card to play on the European scene. Interview – followed remotely – with number 10, at a press conference this Wednesday afternoon at the Republican Tofiq-Behramov Stadium, in Baku.
“We have no excuse for this game”
In what shape are you on the eve of this second European match, and after having traveled nearly 6,000 kilometers?
It’s a long trip, after that’s what we wanted too [jouer contre des équipes qualifiées en Coupe d’Europe, ndlr]so it’s not a problem, in the head everyone is ready. We came a little earlier, from last night, to recover well with the jet lag. We have no excuse.
Is it easier to go from a league match to a European Cup match than the other way around?
I wouldn’t put it that way. This is easier to quickly move on when magnifying glass Something. Afterwards, we did some good things against Olympiakos and we knew that the match against Lorient would be tricky. But for us, it does not change much.
How do you explain that FC Nantes is much less efficient away from home this year?
It’s a good question and if we had the answers, we would have been quiet. I don’t know how to answer that, after that I think the home crowd helps us a lot and pushes us with good things. Now it’s up to us to show character and more concentration away from home to put on good matches and you don’t have to wait for the atmosphere of Beaujoire to make it. It happens in the head.
“Show that we have our place in the Europa League”
Is there any fatigue among the players as you are about to play your sixth game in 19 days?
There really is no excuse because every player on this team wants to tickle (sic) the big competitions, these are our personal goals. When we get to that point, we can’t say that, if it goes badly, it’s because we play every three days. We may be tired the day after the match but after that it’s over and we have the training to recover and prepare well for the next match.
You arrive in Baku in an explosive military context between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Are you worried that it might disrupt your preparation?
We are here to play football, we come for that, so we prepare in our own way as if it were another game. After, it is true that the context is different. But we remain focused on our objective which is to take the three points.
How are you approaching this second game?
We started really well with the victory at home. We must now confirm and show that it was not luck against Olympiakos, that we are a good team and that we have our place in the Europa League. If we repeat what we did well last Thursday, we can claim good things and keep believing it.