Already they did not have much time to prepare for this match unlike any other, the Niçois were also penalized by a plane problem which delayed their return from Sweden on Friday.
After the fifth defeat in seven Europa League matches, one too many since it definitively sealed their European destiny, Franck Haise's men nevertheless really wanted to move on quickly to something else.
The arrival of the Marseille rival this Sunday evening is in this sense very good news, even if the Gym would obviously have liked to approach it with a maximum confidence gauge and not these two consecutive losses in Lille (2-1) during the week. -last end then against the modest Elfsborg team on Thursday
(1-0).
“We can't regret everything because in football, everything moves very quickly. It's time to move forward and this derby is in my opinion the best opportunity to demonstrate that we are better than that”assures Marcin Bulka, a goalkeeper whose long-distance duel with his Olympian counterpart, the very fit Geronimo Rulli, will be one of the challenges of the match.
Well established in second place in the ranking, OM and its stars (Greenwood, Rabiot, Hojbjerg) indeed represent “a big test” for this Gym, which will have the opportunity in prime time to rebuild its image after its poor European campaign.
A question of pride for the club and its supporters, who only dream of a victory and are firmly waiting for the former member of the house Neal Maupay, since they have never forgiven him for his celebration of the first leg.
-The Allianz, a fortress put to the test
Against the best away team in L1 (8 wins, only one defeat in Strasbourg), who beat them 2-0 at the Vélodrome in a match that Nice had the opportunity to win, the OGCN “des arguments” to assert on the pitch, after having had the good idea of occupying the media field to protect against biased refereeing.
There is obviously this invincibility in the league at the Allianz Riviera, a stadium that he is impatient to return to after four consecutive trips and which has always succeeded against the big guys. There are also the obvious individual and collective qualities of a group capable “to cause problems for any team” when it is “in action”believes the Nice coach. The first half in Lille is a good example, but for “aim higher”, the Gym can no longer afford to only play one out of two.
“What is clear is that if we suffer too much against this team, we will inevitably have a lot of difficulty achieving a positive result,” warns Franck Haise, who as usual has no plans to deny himself. The best defense is always attack, even against L1's No. 1 gunner, Mason Greenwood (12 goals).
Fifth and still in the race for the Champions League, the Aiglons have a great chance to play, they who could come back to within four units of their opponent in the event of success, but also let him escape ten points in front if they came to experience a third setback in a row.
It would be a first this season, a bad patch of three that the Niçois, deprived of Diop (suspended) and Rosario (injured) but reinforced by the returns of Boudaoui, Ndombele, Laborde and Bombito, want to avoid at all costs. Arriving from Rennes, Santamaria is, “physically ready” to make his big debut in Nice. Nothing better than a derby to get into the swing of things right away.
