After Brest, who managed to defeat PSV Eindhoven (1-0), LOSC, winner of SK Sturm Graz (3-2) was the second French club to qualify for the Champions League play-offs.
After defeating Real Madrid, Atlético and Bologna, and standing up to Juventus, LOSC surely did not think they would be pushed to their limits this Wednesday, in their duel with SK Sturm Graz. Despite a two-goal lead, the Mastiffs had to fight until the end, not leaving a single second of respite to their supporters who could finally exult at the final whistle (3-2). In the bays, Olivier Létang enjoyed himself:
“I think ultimately, that’s what sport and football are all about. These are emotions, and we have all had strong emotions. We had a good time, with a happy ending. Probably we would have liked the scenario at 2-0 to be different, but that's football. It's also good to experience such matches, with passion, emotions. I think everyone in the stadium and behind the screen had a good time.”expressed Olivier Létang, who only wanted to keep the positives from this opposition.
The main thing is here: “For us, the objective has been achieved. We wanted to have 13 points tonight (Wednesday). We wanted to win. We knew it would be a difficult match because there was this music, perhaps legitimate, which said that because we had beaten Real Madrid and Atlético, it was going to be easy. We knew it would be a difficult match, so we are very happy to have these 13 pointsenjoyed the president of LOSC in the mixed zone. I wasn't afraid, I was very sincere. We say it every time: in high-level football, it's hard to win matches. As soon as you drop a little in concentration, in intensity… You pay for it in cash. And in what is the biggest club competition in the world, even more so. But ultimately, we managed to reverse the trend.
Being more killer is one of our areas of improvement, but I prefer to be very positive and salute, once again, these 13 points after 6 days. »
“I think we deserve to be where we are”
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Ambitious, did Olivier Létang expect such results when he started the competition? “To be very sincere with you, initially, not necessarily. Playing in the play-offs was already a good goalhe admitted before a big smile.
Now, I think we deserve to be where we are, we didn't steal the results we had. […] We probably inherited one of the most difficult draws. At the time, with Real Madrid, Atlético, Juve, Sporting, everyone said it would be very complicated for LOSC. Today, we have 13 points after 6 matches, which is still a very great performance. We must congratulate everyone, the players, the staff, Bruno (Genesio), for the work that has been done.
We are very happy to have 13 points after 6 days”he repeated.
Qualified for the play-offs, LOSC can now turn towards new objectives: the Top 8? “You have to savor it, because being where you are after these 6 days is truly something extraordinary. We have two games left, anything is possible. If we can finish in the top eight, we won't be deprived of it. This will allow us to play two fewer games in February, when we see how condensed the schedule is in January and February, it could be quite interesting. Appetite comes with eating. If we can look for something else with these two matches, we won’t deprive ourselves of it”he concluded, like a conquered man.
