In great difficulty for the past two months, OGC Nice travels to the Lyon leader this Saturday (4 pm). Shaken during training this Friday by around fifty members of the Brigade Sud (smoke bombs, insults, session interruption), the Aiglons urgently need points. Crisis? Yes. Deep? Not yet.
This time, there is danger. With only five small points ahead of the first team in the relegation zone, Toulouse, and nine matches to play, the situation is far from comfortable. Nice hasn’t won since two months ago and that very impressive victory with 10 men against 11 at Olympique de Marseille. Worse still, against Guingamp last week, the Niçois showed a very worrying side. In this particular match (behind closed doors), the defense collapsed and the effectiveness in attack seemed very pale again.
“Morally, it is difficult to string together defeats. […] Above all, we must not lower our heads, the coach pushes us in this direction, and I hope we will react as of Saturday, with this trip to Lyon where we want to take the 3 points,” acknowledges Lloyd Palun, returning to the squad.
The race for survival begins this Saturday at Gerland, but it is especially at the beginning of April that the Aiglons will need to secure points by hosting Evian, a direct competitor, and Reims, also in danger. For this trip, Claude Puel is shaking up his plans. Exit Mouez Hassen, return of Joris Delle. Didier Digard could reclaim a starting spot just like Lloyd Palun. Souleymane Diawara and Grégoire Puel are still suspended.
Beware on the opposing side, it’s a team on course for the “Champion title” objective that will step onto the field highly motivated. Despite three notable absentees, Lacazette-Bedimo-Umtiti, all suspended, OL should be competitive. The slip-up in Lille (2-1 defeat) was forgotten with the display at Montpellier (5-1 victory). However, the 0-0 draw at Marseille was not so convincing. Les Gones were jolted for 80 minutes on the Mediterranean coast, but this Saturday, they can count on the return of their playmaker, Yoann Gourcuff. With Nabil Fekir on cloud nine (called up to the French national team this Thursday) and a successful Njie, the Nice defense will need to be at 120%.
“We’re not even going to Gerland as underdogs, because everyone thinks we’ll take a thrashing… We have a very complicated schedule, so it’s up to us to earn points as quickly as possible to climb up the standings, and we’ve been aware of this for a while,” explained Mathieu Bodmer in a press conference.
In the worst-case scenario, at the end of this 30th day, Claude Puel’s men would only be two points ahead of the red zone. With survival likely to be secured around the 40-41 points mark, a high-tension April awaits OGC Nice.
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