Following his side’s disappointing 0-0 draw with Metz last night, Lille boss Jocelyn Gourvennec was asked about the implications for their upcoming Champions League Round of 16 fixture against Chelsea.
“You can’t draw any conclusions in terms of the preparation for this match since we’ll be in a completely different formation,” said the former Guingamp and Bordeaux boss. “Of course, we’d have preferred to reassure ourselves by winning but on Tuesday it’ll be another thing entirely.”
Against Metz, “we had a really hard first half, because it was so closed-off, with a lot of duels in the middle of the park and tight, solid lines,” he said. “We weren’t able to surprise them, nor to move them out of position. In the second half, we organised ourselves differently to better move the ball forward. We had one chance after the break but after that it was locked off again.”
Lille take on Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday night.