Olympique Lyonnais head coach Peter Bosz was prepared to give little away at his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg against West Ham United.
With the tie finely poised at 1-1 going into the second leg at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, the former Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen is expecting another evenly-matched game in France on Thursday.
The vastly experienced head coach is aware that fine margins can make a significant difference at this level – a point reiterated by his West Ham counterpart David Moyes later on Wednesday with respect to Aaron Cresswell’s contentious red card at London Stadium.
Les Gones boast a formidable record in continental competition at Parc Olympique Lyonnais; since moving in January 2016, Lyon have lost only one Champions League and one Europa League match on home turf.
And Bosz is hoping to channel the support of his 59,000-capacity stadium towards making that difference.
“Each club has its tactics,” the manager noted. “I think more or less it will be the same strategy for West Ham, but we will be ready for all scenarios.
“I hope we learn things we did wrong there, but there were also good things. At this level, it is the details that make the difference. I hope we will be ready.
“The atmosphere will be the biggest difference from the first leg. Tomorrow the supporters will be for us. I hope they will make the difference for us, by being right behind us.
“We can qualify for the semifinals here at home. When we have as many chances as we did in the first leg, you have to score.
“A quarter-final of the Europa League is special. It's something special for me and for the players. Everyone wants to be there. It's a special match, absolutely.”
Lyon will be without goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and attacking midfielder Lucas Paquetá for Thursday’s match, both missing after sustaining injuries in Sunday’s 1-1 Ligue 1 draw against Strasbourg.
They are, however, likely to play Karl Toto Ekambi, who scored a last-minute equaliser in that game and who is their top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions this season, including six in nine in the Europa League – the tournament’s joint-top scorer.
"Karl Toko Ekambi is important with his goals and his dribbling. He is dangerous. He is playing better and better,” Bosz added.
“The most important thing in football is to score and not concede, but that’s not easy. I have to work with the team for that, and Karl can play close to Moussa Dembélé if the ball is across the pitch.”
"The players have to realize that the supporters are behind us. We have to get them back on the pitch with that state of mind."
Young midfielder Roman Faivre, meanwhile – enjoying his first taste of continental competition in the Europa League this season, having previously represented Tours, Monaco and Brest – is anticipating an exciting encounter on Thursday.
The 24-year-old said: "It's a new competition for me, I know we're being watched more and there's more attention around us.
“It's a big competition. There's more pressure, more intensity. I prepare for all the matches in the same way.
“This match is going to be a good meeting. It's the most important match of my young career. It will be a good meeting, but there are still important matches, especially in the league.
"In the first leg I think we had a good game, especially as they were reduced to ten in the first half. We should have won but we didn’t have enough killer instinct.
“The manager asked us to play our football and we did. We didn't make enough of our chances."
"Against Porto [in the round of 16, a 2-1 win on aggregate], we had a good match but we were solid defensively to seek qualification. On Thursday, we will have to be good in front of the goal to be able to win.
“They are good offensively and we will have to mark offensively, in particular their striker Michail Antonio, who is very powerful."
