Thanks to their victory against Salzburg on Tuesday 23 November, Losc will only need a draw in Wolfsburg to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. The Mastiffs are also guaranteed to qualify at least for the Europa League, regardless of their result in Germany on December 8. For the first time in their history, they chained two victories in C1, and therefore had a smile in the post-match press conference.
Jocelyn Gourvennec (Losc coach):
“We played the game we wanted, giving little to Salzburg who are a very strong team in transitions and which hurts. We struggled in the first 20 minutes because we left them too much. spaces, and we improved that in the second half.
We said we would play the Champions League at 300% and that’s what we are doing. We lost in Salzburg because we got out of our game but we corrected things. We have had great defensive efficiency since the start of the competition. To be where we are today with eight points, we have made a lot of effort, I think we do honor to the competition and to Ligue 1. We have prospects but given what we have done, we have to go for the first place. We will have to play a big game in Wolfsburg. There will be a European competition in February in Lille anyway, and now we hope it will be the best.
I often tell players to mark their time at the club. We won the first Champions League match at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, we have two consecutive victories, that has value. In my talk, I told the players to make a maximum of efforts to have a maximum of emotions with the public tonight.
No matter how much I look, I have nothing negative to say about Jonathan David. He is only 21 years old but he plays like an old man. He will be a great player. We don’t need to tell him things twice, we tell him once and he applies. He helps the team a lot and he is efficient. He is a collective player, he is precious to us. “
Jonathan David (Lille scorer):
“I’m in good shape, I score often, but it’s a collective work because it’s my teammates who put me in the best position to finish the actions. I try to win to destabilize the opponent and create opportunities for us. For me the most important thing is victory, if my goals can help the team I’m happy, it’s my job to score.
It was a difficult match with a lot of intensity but we knew that we had to stay strong in difficult times. I don’t really have any secrets for managing fatigue and going through matches. I’m still young, I try to recover as well as possible after the game, hydrate myself well and then I play. “
Matthias Jaissle (Salzburg coach):
“We missed a goal, I think we played very courageously but unfortunately we were not efficient enough in front of goal. At this level, it is played on details and Lille took advantage. our players are playing their first season in the Champions League, they still have to learn. They gave everything in the second half and I am proud of them. We did not manage to create enough chances and Lille closed us a lot spaces in depth. “