Sunday, September 29, 2019

 Olympique de Marseille 1 - 1 Stade Rennais FC 

André Villas-Boas (Olympique de Marseille coach): "It's my responsibility. We continue to blow it in the first half and then we have to work that much harder to get back into the game. We seemed mentally blocked tonight, maybe because of my choices. We'll see about that. I wanted to give my guys some confidence. And they played well; we deserved to get back into the game."

Julien Stéphan (Stade Rennais FC coach): ""It's a shame, because I think the team played a very consistent game and we might have deserved a little more than a draw. We wanted to press them high right away and match them man-for-man all over the pitch. It was our ambition to get the ball back quickly and try to cause them problems when we had the ball. We did it very well in the first half. We were dominant and good at using the ball to put them in difficulty. We combined well down the right flank and created plenty of chances in front of goal."

 RC Strasbourg Alsace  1 - 0  Montpellier Hérault SC 

Thierry Laurey (Strasbourg coach): "This victory will do us good because it is always difficult to beat Montpellier. We wouldn't have done it without the saves made by Matz Sels. We are really proud of our goalkeeper. He was frustrated after the Lille game. He spoke in the dressing room and showed the players the way to go. I am not going to sit here and say we dominated Montpellier but we fought with the weapons we have available to us. I am proud of my boys for the way they stuck together and never gave up here after not performing at Lille. We have lifted our heads back above water. With Fofana, Zohi and Caci to come back we will also be able to change things about more going forward."

Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "It is the third straight away match in which we haven't played well with the ball. It is not enough to win a game. We did nothing in the first half except the penalty which we missed. Otherwise we couldn't put together three passes. We were sluggish in the second half although we did improve. We created chances but their goalkeeper made a super save at the end. We didn't play well. I rotated the squad because some of the players were tired. I have a squad and I am trying to use it. I do what I want with it and I expect the players to respond, but I am not happy with the collective performance."

 Nîmes Olympique  0 - 1  AS Saint-Etienne 

Bernard Blaquart (Nîmes coach): "It was exactly the same match as against Toulouse (which Nîmes won 1-0), with the same deficiencies in attack but not with the same result or consequences. We always look to score goals but we are not doing that at the moment. We are trying things and we are getting chances but we are not taking them, either due to clumsiness or bad luck. We are disappointed at the result because we put so much effort into the game."

Ghislain Printant (Saint-Etienne coach): "Eight points from eight matches is not enough. It is up to the board to take the decisions. At this point, nobody has told me anything but I am not fooled. I read and hear things but I am trying to do my job. I don't always do it well, as our league position suggests, but I am trying to put all my energy into it. We were put on the back foot but we are prepared to suffer. We decided to leave the ball to Nîmes. I was fed up of playing all the football, being hit on the counter-attack and paying the price. We set ourselves up with two lines of four to counter them and leave the ball to Nîmes and their long-ball game. We did suffer at times and it wasn't the best Saint-Etienne performance. It is not the kind of football I like, but we won. We were very unwell coming into this game but we played like a team who needed points."

Saturday, September 28, 2019

 Girondins de Bordeaux 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain 

Paulo Sousa (Bordeaux coach): "Paris are the strongest team in the championship, both collectively and individually. We tried to play and sometimes we defended further up the field but it was difficult because we didn't have the mobility in between the lines  and the individual quality in our passing to make the most of the space. We defended well, almost perfectly. Paris have players who can make a difference at any moment."

Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain coach): "Mbappé and Neymar have quality and they like being together. Their personalities go well together. You can feel it and you can see it on the pitch but you mustn't see it too much because a balance needs to be kept with the other players. They need to keep looking for other players. We must always make the best decision for the team, to win and create chances. That's the way we played today."

 Olympique Lyonnais 0-1 FC Nantes 

Sylvinho (Lyon coach): "We're in a difficult situation. It's a crisis. We need to work hard to get our confidence back. The players are stressed and we're conceding goals. They had two shots on target and scored one goal. We need to keep working hard every day. I always said the road would be long and difficult. We are finding it very hard."

Christian Gourcuff (Nantes coach): "In coming to Lyon and taking on a team that likes to play, we needed to be very well organised. We were coherent and in terms of our defensive efforts I think it was perhaps our best match. We could have done better in our use of the ball. We didn't create many chances. We gave up chances because Lyon have attacking quality."

 AS Monaco  4 - 1  Stade Brestois 29 

Leonardo Jardim (Monaco coach): "It was a positive evening. The team played very well and we were very strong in the first 30 minutes without taking our chances. In the second half we put the same intensity in and we deserved to win. We could have won 6-1. The results we've had this week make us happy. I have a squad of men here, people who are used to football and know me. Three worked with me at Sporting Lisbon and four or five have been here a long time."

Olivier Dall'Oglio (Brest coach): "We didn't deserve to win and that's the least we can say. We weren't solid enough and we lacked intensity in everything we did. Monaco had a turning point by beating Nice and we new that. They have top-level players who are very good technically, who don't lose the ball much. We weren't helped either by losing Autret early, and Larsonneur can't see out of one eye."

 FC Metz 2-2 Toulouse FC 

Vincent Hognon (Metz coach): "Metz should clearly have won this match, even if Toulouse had chances. Even after they equalised we had chances to go back in front. I am extremely disappointed as the players gave a lot and we played with a certain amount of quality in the first half. There were also a lot of things that went against us with Habib Diallo going off early and Opa Nguette at the break."

Alain Casanova (Toulouse coach): "We showed force of character to get back on terms at the end of the game and then again in added time. With the chances we had we could have won the game. Baptiste Reynet didn't have saves to make in the second half. We really had to battle to get the win and the depth on our bench showed we have a quality squad, even if it's not a large squad. That said, I'm disappointed with the way we started the game."

 OGC Nice  1 - 1  LOSC 

Patrick Vieira (Nice coach): "Scoring is Kasper Dolberg's role, that's what we ask of him, but it's true that the way he controlled the ball and then finished it off showed that he's a great player, a real scorer. He's not 100% physically but he showed some good things this evening."

Christophe Galtier (LOSC coach): "We were complacent and that really annoyed me. I'm frustrated, almost angry, that we were so gentle in terms of our attack. We played for the sake of playing, not for winning. We'll sort things out face to face in the dressing room and we needed to be more clinical the way Nice were. So, yes, I am really upset."

 Angers SCO 1- 1 Amiens SC 

Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "I think our energy earned us that point. We started badly and conceded a goal. We then put a bit of craziness into our play after the break. When you are led and you are playing for the third time in a week then it's always hard. My players put everything into that. We needed to try everything to get back on terms and it ended up paying off, so I am satisfied above all."

Luka Elsner (Amiens coach): "We're happy to have taken a point at Angers and in style. We were courageous and everybody played for each other. There's also frustration. I'm not saying it wasn't a fair result but there were moments that we could have exploited better when they took risks. That said, the point is a positive point, even if we could have done more in certain situations."

 Stade de Reims  1 - 2  Dijon FCO 

David Guion (Reims coach): "That was a blow. We asked for calm and for the players to focus on their game. The Dijon attackers put us under a lot of pressure and that provoked imperfections in our defence. We were also too clumsy in front of the opposition goal."

Stéphane Jobard (Dijon coach): "It's a great relief to us. By keeping on repeating to the players that by being patient and it will pay off, and then the results don't follow, then the credibility of the message takes a hit. It's our first victory but I think it will provide relief to everybody in the dressing room and outside it."