At the Allianz Riviera,
If they believed for a moment that they could go back in front of Rennes and return to the Ligue 1 podium, after the opener by Andy Delort, the Niçois finally had to settle for the point of the draw, Saturday evening at home against Rennes. (1-1). And for Christophe Galtier, being the best defense in the championship is no longer enough. Until the end of the season, the Nice coach expects his players to take “more offensive risks” and to put “more pressure on the opposing defenses”, he said after the match. meet.
Against the Bretons, the Marseillais had already applied himself to engaging this strategy by aligning for the first time this season his quartet of attackers Gouiri-Dolberg-Delort-Kluivert. “I wanted us to weigh more offensively. Lately, whatever players are lined up in front, they’ve been pretty isolated,” he explained.
“We should have put our block higher”
As a result, although the territorial domination of the Rennais was pregnant, the Aiglons hit more often than their opponents in the first period. Like the first attempts of Amine Gouiri and Andy Delort (4th), Youcef Atal (20th) and then Kasper Dolberg (32nd), who hit the first shot on the Nice side.
Amine Gouiri followed (59th), then finally Andy Delort who opened the scoring with a header after a great breakthrough from Youcef Atal (1-0). And Nice started to retreat, conceding a goal from a free kick which deprived them of the three points. And that Christophe Galtier found “avoidable”. “We lacked discernment, accuracy and personality in the last minutes of the match where we should have put our block higher, reacted the coach. We could have been even more dangerous. »
“Follow the coach’s instructions to the end”
For the eight games that remain to be played, “in the final of the championship, we will have to take more offensive risks and put more pressure on the opposing defenses and participation in the corridors”, supported the Aiglons coach.
“When you see the statistics, yes, you have to score more goals, conceded captain Dante. But is it only the attackers’ fault? No. It is also us, behind, to get better passes and, in the middle, to build better. We have to stay focused on the coach’s instructions and follow him to the end. »
