Discover Christophe Galtier's reaction after Le Gym's qualification for the Coupe de France final thanks to the victory over Versailles (2-0).

What is your initial reaction?
That we need to recover in order to put in a great performance against Paris. That's my take as coach. But of course, there's a lot of joy in the dressing room, but also relief, because we came up against a very good Versailles side. Congratulations to these players, who are amateurs, congratulations to their coach, because they are a team that plays well. We studied them a lot, we could have thought that they would adopt a very defensive approach. In the end, it was a team that played, which made it a first half in which we got our positioning wrong. We didn't have many chances in the first half. Then in the second, after repositioning certain players through the middle, in order to have options through the middle and out wide, and we were pleased to score quite quickly. And from that moment on, the match became totally different. In terms of how I am feeling, I am very happy for the players, the club, all of the employees, the team behind the team and our supporters. I know that they will travel to Paris in their numbers on 8 May. But for now, we need to turn our focus to the match that awaits us on Saturday.

25 years on, OGC Nice are back in the final of the Coupe de France…
It's good. I am very happy about it. A final is good, it means people travel, it allows you to keep the focus in the squad, because we have a very exciting end to the season, be that in the league and this huge date. 8 May will be a great occasion, be it against Nantes or Monaco. The final of the Coupe de France is also a celebration of football. Everyone will feel involved in terms of the objectives that have been set. We have 8 weeks, I will put the final to one side, but I can't wait to see the stadium filled with lots of red and black. We will see what colours we will face. I have been lucky enough to experience finals at the Stade de France. It's always very nice to see that stadium split in two in terms of colours.

What did you say to your players at half-time?
To get into the game… I saw that there was a bit of tension at one point in the first half. I remained focused on our plan, on what we needed to do, to position more players inside and ask them to let go a little, to take more risks when shooting. Amine scored a really great goal, he also had a very good chance at the start of the second half, where he didn't shoot. We needed to put a lot more pressure on the opponent's goal. The half-time break allowed us to talk about the game and nothing but the game, without being obsessed about making it into the final.

Amine Gouiri scored and got an assist once again. He has been very important for Nice these past 2 years.

Of course. Amine is having a very good season, even though this evening I spotted him missing things technically that he wouldn't usually miss. I saw him score his goal. Getting free, with his skill, for the second. He is an important player. When you are in this situation, you need important players, particularly up-front. Kasper came on and scored. It's always good for a striker. It's also the work of all of the team.

Kasper's goal wasn't easy to score…
He has that technical precision to do so. And it even came to him on his left foot. He didn't panic, and had the right skill to put it in exactly the right position, which isn't easy. It's a goal that came as a relief for the fans and the players. When you lead 2-0 at that stage of a match, you see that it becomes difficult for the opposition psychologically. When that is the case, it also becomes difficult physically. That's why it made the end of the match much more straight forward for us.

Rosario at the back, Stengs starting: Your choices paid off…
I decided to play Pablo Rosario at the back. I knew that there would be a lot of direct stuff as soon as they won the ball back. I wanted to play someone with JC – who is still a young player, despite the fact that he plays a lot - who has experienced semi-finals, or even finals. In terms of Calvin, despite him not playing in his preferred role, I wanted him to play with width and for him to get the ball to his left foot. He produced some interesting things. He felt more at home when he moved to the right, and playing further inside.

Was there as much joy in the dressing room as there was against Paris or Marseille?
No. It's a good question. These are matchs where there is lots of exposure, but also a lot of pressure. Because the world of French football wanted to see the amateurs beat the pros and make it into the final. It's understandable. It's also the charm of this magnificent competition. So there is automatically a lot of pressure on the players. There wasn't that same joy as there had been in previous rounds against Paris or Marseille. There was satisfaction at having qualified, but also a lot of relief. 

Would your money be on Nantes or Monaco?
Nantes are having a very good campaign. We saw them beat Paris in an incredible manner. They are full of confidence, and have the benefit of being at home… but up against them, they have a team that, admittedly, were beaten in the last 10 minutes against Reims, but who are used to big matches. I think it will be very tight. And may the best team win.

On a personal level, you have the opportunity to complete a pretty rare triple in French football: winning L1, the Coupe de la Ligue and the Coupe de France as a Head Coach.
It's incredible, I said to someone very close to me this afternoon on the phone that it would be extraordinary. I experienced the pain of losing two as a player, twice for OM against Bordeaux, and I had the privilege to win it under Alain Perrin, who I pay tribute to. With Sochaux against Marseille, and with Lyon against PSG. As a Head Coach, of course, it's a trophy that I would like to lift and it would go well alongside the two that I was able to win with AS Saint-Etienne (the Coupe de la Ligue) and with Lille (French champions). We've still got a long way to go, it's in 8 weeks. But it will be close to my heart.