To continue “playing the spoilsports” in the Champions League, Lille must “raise the cursor” if they want to compete on Tuesday in the round of 16 first leg against Chelsea, titled in 2021 and “even better today”, declared Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec in an interview with AFP.
Q: Do you think you can create a surprise against the defending champion?
Chelsea players celebrate their title of club world champions, after their victory in the final against Pameiras (Brazil), on February 12, 2022 in Abu Dhabi / AFP / Archives
A: “We are competitors so we will not play Chelsea as a + sparring-partner +, that’s for sure! It’s a very great team, with great players, a great coach. They won the League champions last year, they have just been crowned club world champions… They are a very big team, but it is a cup game and in all cup games there are always things to do, there are surprises. A lot can happen and we want to play the spoilsports, as we have been doing since the start of this Champions League campaign.
Q: Is this Chelsea team stronger than the one that won the competition last year?
A: “Yes, of course. The feat of (coach) Thomas Tuchel was to very quickly blend into his new environment by only arriving in January (2021) at Chelsea. He had just left Paris simply a few days before and he was able to analyze the situation very quickly to revive the team. He moved the lines, he removed players, brought back some who were no longer playing or not playing much and he found the right formula to revitalize the team. I think they have succeeded in reinforcing all that this season because when a coach arrives, it is always over time that the principles and work habits are woven, that the knowledge between the coach and the players and between the players and the coach is finer. So I think they are even better today.”
Q: What are the strengths of the Blues?
A: “They are in a very strong championship and if they are not at the top of the Premier League, it is because there are even stronger than them. But they are obviously a very strong team collectively and individually What is striking is both their animation which can move, their technical quality to prepare the actions. It is a team which plays with safety, which has little waste and which puts a lot of pressure on the team. opponent. It has a very strong midfielder and attackers who are the first defenders. They are very rigorous in this, so we will have to be able to play under pressure, to show control because it is a team that will want to impose its rhythm.”
Q: What do you think is the key to being able to compete?
Chelsea’s German coach Thomas Tuchel gives his instructions to his French midfielder N’Golo Kanté, under the eyes of Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic, during the Club World Cup final against Palmeiras, February 12, 2022 in Abu Dhabi / AFP/Archives
A: “It will be up to us to resist this pressure, especially on this first leg away game to be able to give ourselves chances to play something on the return. There is not a soloist who is out of the ordinary in this team, but they are all very good. They have a very strong midfielder with Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kanté, Mason Mount… It’s a team that imposes a significant physical challenge, an important rhythm due to its pressing and great technical quality and we will have to respond to that. But like in every match, there will be things we will have to do to create situations and we will have situations. We will have to be at a very good level, it will be necessary to raise the cursor.”
Q: Have you identified any weaknesses in Thomas Tuchel’s team?
A: “Like all teams, when they defend by running towards their goal, they are less comfortable and a little more vulnerable so the challenge will be to get out of this pressing to go play behind their backs and especially in the backs of the full-backs. They are formidable but we will also have our say. We will have to be solid, defend well and also have technical mastery in recovery because we will not be able to make only transitions. It’s a bit like the matches against Paris: we will have to try to keep the ball, make the opponent run, have times when we calm the rhythm because we will not be able to run without stopping.”
Interview by Nicolas BLASQUEZ
–
