Christophe Galtier (Lille): “I’m happy, but …”

“What is your analysis of this success on Czech soil?

We had a very good start to the game having some very favorable situations that we thought we had. We should have finished our attacks better to be able to lead quickly. Then, we were looking for our second wind. We had lined up players (Yazici, Pied, Soumaré, Xeka, Ikone) which hadn’t changed much lately. Sparta Prague managed to put their game down. I found my defensive team not very effective, especially on the front curtain. That’s why I asked Yorko (Icons) to come to the right side and Yusuf Yazici to come under the attacker to have more benchmarks. We reformed a line of four to prevent the opponent from taking out the balls. We took advantage of our power play and had the chance to open the scoring.

What happens at the break?

We lead but we are still on alert in the locker room. Due to a lot of contentious situations against us and our two informed defenders (Bradaric, Botman). I had warned the players that you had to defend intelligently. And that triggered the fact that we did not defend from the start of the second period. And we conceded this goal eleven against ten. From there, we could fear a loss of confidence in the game. But my team played well. And scored some great goals. I’m happy but there were some (difficult) parts in the match. I think it’s linked to the fact that some had not started a match for a long time. They were looking for a second wind. We managed to win. It creates good momentum. It is important to start this kind of competition, which is very compressed in time.

Why didn’t you take out Botman or Bradaric at the break after all?

It was a debate to get out one or the other. Or we had the possibility that those who do not play often draw a little. I preferred to leave neither. I had the opportunity to get out one in two. If I had, maybe we would not have taken this Czech goal which gave hope and could have hurt our head. But it ended well, so much the better. “We had a very good start to the match with very favorable situations and we should have finished our attacks much better. Then we looked for our second wind. We were fortunate enough to take advantage of the numerical superiority and open the scoring. I warned my players at half-time because two defenders were warned (Botman et Bradaric) and from the start we did not defend and we took this goal 11 against 10. We could fear a loss of confidence and no, the team played well, scored beautiful goals. I’m happy but there were times in the match where we were looking for a second wind. We managed to win so it creates a good group dynamic and it was very important to start with a victory. This is a good omen. “

Jérémy Pied (defender of Lille) : “We put in the ingredients, we did what was necessary to collect them. From the start, we had a lot of chances, we got into the right tempo. Despite the equalizer, we managed to get on the right track and score three more goals to snatch the victory. They have won their first six Championship games, it won’t be easy for the others to come and win here. We don’t want to fall into arrogance, we want to remain humble, but we have done good things. We know that we are not going to have the perfect season, there will be difficult times. But if we keep this state of mind we can do beautiful things and mistakes will be easily forgiven. “