St Etienne vs Marseille preview - Galtier eyeing Champions League - 7M sport

St Etienne vs Marseille preview - Galtier eyeing Champions League



Posted Saturday, April 25, 2015 by PA

St Etienne boss Christophe Galtier has told his players they must find the safe ground between nervousness and relaxation to press their case for a top-three finish in Ligue 1.

Marseille's stunning 5-3 home defeat at the hands of Lorient on Friday evening has left St Etienne as the team most likely to challenge Monaco for third position, which would bring the reward of a place in next season's Champions League qualification rounds.

St Etienne trail Monaco by two points heading into Sunday's home match against Montpellier.

Galtier said of the final push for European places: "We mustn't be nervous, or relaxed. We are in the scenario of a tennis player preparing to serve match points. To concrete what we've got we must rediscover quality football. We have to play to win."

Head coach Galtier has been disappointed with recent performances, starting with the 4-1 Coupe de France loss to Paris St Germain. St Etienne then beat Nantes, but not to the manager's satisfaction, and drew with title-challengers Lyon.

"On Sunday afternoon we will face opponents who have form and confidence in 2015," Galtier said, quoted on St Etienne's website.

"Over the last three matches, against Paris, Nantes and Lyon, we haven't been good."

Going into the weekend, Montpellier were seventh in the table, five points behind St Etienne.

Head coach Rolland Courbis is regretting his team being able to collect just one point from three recent away games against Evian, Monaco and Toulouse.

And he remains haunted by a 2-0 home defeat to St Etienne earlier this season, calling it "one of our worst memories".

Courbis said: "There remain 15 points to play for over the last five games. We hope to take a minimum of five.

"St Etienne are obliged to look at their calculations differently and say, 'well, if we get four wins and a draw...', which isn't impossible given their fixture list."

Speaking before Marseille's surprising Friday night loss, Courbis said: "Even if the Marseille-Monaco match looks like being decisive in the battle for third place, I think that St Etienne can play for this third place.

"But they have to beat us and, for the moment, we don't want that and we're going to do our all to pose them problems."



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