In his post-match press conference, Lucien Favre discussed his side's problems, noting the difficulty they had in responding to the intensity of their Austrian opponents.

How do you explain the difficulties tonight?
I'm not necessarily surprised. It's European football. Salzburg are a side who had a big disappointment at the beginning of the season when they only just lost out to Zagreb in the Champions League play-offs. We won over there in Austria two weeks ago even though they had more chances than we did. We need to raise our rhythm, physically and technically. Sometimes taking one touch less, sometimes losing our markers sooner or more easily, looking to play into space. In terms of intensity, we have a lot of work to do.

Does it remind you of the match against Schalke?
Not at all. Salzburg played well and maintained their intensity. We were struggling with our rhythm. We needed to get between the lines or get into space or play faster. They pressed us really hard and we struggled to play our game.

Were you surprised by the intensity of Salzburg's pressing game? Is it different from the level you find in Ligue 1?
They were very good tonight, and they played that way in the first match as well. We handled it better over there. They were in a 3-5-2 and it was harder for them to press us; it was easier for us to play out of defence. Tonight, Salzburg took the first half, but in the second half we were better - we had space for our full-backs and it went pretty well up until the 70^th minute.

'Intensity isn't just physical'

Is this match a wake-up call to your players about the kind of effort they have to make?
I wouldn't say it's a wake-up call. We have to progress in terms of intensity in order to be able to deal with matches like tonight's. They pressed as soon as they lost the ball, tracking back 50 metres. Football isn't all about technique.

Is this lack of intensity you've underlined due to your team's not having the resources or is it a lack of desire?
It has nothing to do with desire. As I said before, intensity isn't just physical. It's the sum of the physical, technical and tactical; it's the capacity to play and make decisions quickly.

Are you worried that this defeat could demoralize your troops?
We're playing in Caen in two and a half days, so we don't have much time to reflect. That's part of the game. We need to focus on the positives we have seen so far - even tonight, with our strong first 25 minutes of the second half. We lost tonight and it wasn't to a bad team.

Can Nice still hope to qualify?
Our chances looked slim before the match, and they are even more so now. But you never know…

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