After a flight of around an hour, Les Aiglons stepped out onto Swiss soil earlier this evening. Ready for their final preparations ahead of the first leg of the quarter-final of the Conference League in Basel (kick-off on Thursday at 9pm). 

For once, the training on the eve of the continental trip was held in Nice, with a lot of bad surprises in store: the withdrawal of Nicolas Pepe, Alexis Beka Beka and Mattia Viti. These injuries have not hampered the motivation and determination of a united group: "We do not yet know how long they will be out for but we always have players ready to step up. That's what I like", Didier Digard told the press.

Unity was the focus of the trip. As it always is, but now a little more than usual. The plane that left the Comté was filled with smiles and concentration. On arrival at the airport straddling three countries (France, Switzerland and Germany), Les Aiglons were greeted by clouds, rain and around ten degrees.

As the players headed to their hotel, the coach travelled to speak to media, accompanied by Khephren Thuram. He immediately refocused the discussion around a big encounter, against an opponent with vast experience in European battles. "I heard that today (Basel) wanted to make us favourites. That doesn't bother us. These are titles that belong to the outside world. We are focused on our goal: putting in a good performance here."

Unity was also the order of the day when it came to talking about the Nice supporters, who have traveled en masse to the cultural capital of Switzerland. "I've been saying it since the beginning: it's a Nice adventure," concluded DD. "We can't live it by ourselves. We need the people of Nice. The fans are coming, we will have to provide them with a performance worthy of their investment shown in travelling here to support us."