Patrick Vieira gave his take on his side’s defeat against Slavia Prague (1-3).

Is this your greatest disappointment in Nice?

It’s a huge disappointment because we set out to and wanted to win this match. We have seen that at the top level, it comes down to details. And in terms of those details, we weren’t good enough again this evening. We lacked a bit of luck. Unfortunately, we conceded the second goal at the worst possible time. From that moment on, it made things a lot more complicated for us. It’s a learning curve of the top level and European football. But once again, it’s a huge disappointment for us. 

What was your message to the players in the dressing room? Because there are still two matches to go, but qualification seems beyond you…

This defeat makes things almost impossible. What we need to do now is to turn the page ahead of the league match (against Dijon on Sunday at 5pm), which will be important for us, our standing in the league and the psychological aspects. We are in a pretty interesting position in the league which is quite tight and if we want to remain in that group at the top, we will need to get a positive result.

You were looking for determination to compensate for the physical aspects. Are you satisfied with your side’s first hour of the match in terms of spirit?

In terms of intensity, concentration, desire to do well, the players were quite encouraging. Did it last for the 92 minutes? No. There were gaps, difficult moments. It’s not good enough for the Europa League, because European football comes down to the little details, concentration and the physical impact that you can bring. We were lacking in certain domains and we paid for it. On the other hand, we lacked that bit of luck with our final ball, our choices. Alexis hit the post, Stanley’s header (went just wide). It’s all part of our lack of experience. Matches like the one tonight will make our players better. When you go through moments like that, which are complicated, you need to face up to it and accept the fact that we are practically eliminated.

Do you need to pick up the work on defending set-pieces?

We are quite fragile defensively from set-pieces. We have been working on them for a long time. It’s a question of spirit. And in terms of our aggressiveness, we aren’t showing enough for the moment. We need to progress and in order to do so, we need to change our approach because unfortunately, we are being made to pay for it.

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