the essential
Before facing Montauban this Sunday, AMTF side Loane Ballarin talks about her reunion with her training club.
After five months at the club, how do you feel?
Very good, on or off the field. The integration went very well because the girls were very welcoming from the moment I arrived. That made it easier.
How do you explain this mixed start to the season?
This is due to small details that are difficult to resolve, especially in terms of finishing because I find that, overall, we don't concede that many goals. We have difficulty on the last and penultimate movements in the opponent's area.
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Montauban is your training club, what memories do you have of it?
Very good ones. I went through the youth teams up to the D2F. I had a good run there in the Coupe de France last season (elimination in the quarter-finals against OL, editor's note). I also still have a few friends there, with whom I am still in touch.
Why did you leave it and come to the AMTF?
I had been at this club for a while and I needed a change. I also felt the beneficial effects quite quickly. Especially since last season was very complicated with this descent, all these defeats. A change of environment was important to me. As for the AMTF, I felt, through discussions with the coach (Alain Bénédet), that this club could suit me, particularly in relation to the atmosphere and the functioning of the group.
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What are the main differences you felt between the two clubs?
I find more similarities than differences in them. These are two clubs which have quality infrastructures with beautiful grass pitches. They give a lot of importance to their women's section. The environment is family.
Meetings between the two clubs are always eagerly awaited in Albi. Is this also the case in Montauban?
It is often an encounter with tension and twists and turns. We knew it was a match with a lot of intensity and physical impact. When we played Albi, we knew it wouldn't be an easy match, especially at home.
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The last confrontation was humiliating for the AMTF (1-6 defeat in March). Is there a feeling of revenge in the group?
Of course, as was the case in this match, since it was 5-1 for AMTF in the first leg. Ultimately, I feel more of a feeling of serenity because, at home, pushed by our audience, we are serene.
And you, how do you feel before facing your training club?
Honestly, it's a match like any other. Even if, deep down, it will necessarily be special given that I have friends there, but above all I would want to win it, like my partners.
