Nantes coach dreaming of glory

Coach Raynald Denoueix was delighted with the 1-0 defeat of S.S. Lazio in the Beaujoire stadium in UEFA Champions League Group D which ensured that FC Nantes Atlantique would be in Friday's last 16 draw in Geneva on Friday.

‘Very satisfying’
“It was very a satisfying win,” said Denoueix. “We knew what he had to do in order to beat Lazio. We had to be well organised, make a minimum of mistakes, play collectively and be mobile. That’s not easy to do, especially against a big side like Lazio, which has lots of experience and is full of internationals."

‘The dream goes on’
Tuesday’s win, following on from the weekend domestic victory over FC Sochaux-Montbéliard – Nantes’ first three points of the French first division season – bodes well for the campaign. “The team is improving and that is encouraging,” added Denoueix. “The word is ambition. Everything is possible in the Champions League. The dream goes on.”

Landreau delighted
The Nantes captain Mikaël Landreau agreed with his manager’s analysis. “This goal and this win will help for the following matches. It is a real dream, because at the start we were not the favourites to qualify from the group.”

André relieved
Goalscorer Pierre-Yves André was particularly delighted. Having come in for criticism for failing to find the net regularly since he joined from SC Bastia this year, he said that getting the decisive goal had been a real relief:  "I needed to score a goal," said André. "As the doubt started to set down on my mind. I needed to reassure myself, to reassure my team mates and to reassure the public. Since I joined I’ve only scored once and I needed to find the net again to feel more comfortable. It's just great."

Vital goal
Denoueix admitted that André's goal had been vital. “I don’t think it would have been possible to come back if Lazio had scored,” he said, but that will be little comfort for Lazio coach Alberto Zaccheroni whose side finished bottom of Group D and are in the bottom four in Serie A. 

‘A great disappointment’
“It’s a great disappointment," said Zaccheroni, who before the game had been convinced that Lazio could qualify from the group. “Everything needs to be put back in order.”  The former Milan AC coach refused to blame his struggling strikers, Claudio López and Hernán Crespo, who looked in poor form: “Nantes were too well organised,” he admitted. “We came to win and to try and attack, but Nantes played better and that’s why we didn’t attack more.”