Lyon will have to work hard for a chance to score in their Champion’s League play-off game against Rubin Kazan, the French team’s coach Remi Garde said.
”This is an important match for Lyon, which we want to win. We’ll do everything we can to make our fans happy,” said Garde in a message on Lyon’s official website. “We understand that we’ll have a lot less opportunities to score than in our previous game with Ajaccio, which was a kind of a rehearsal. Rubin have a good defensive line. I would even say that they enjoy playing defense.”
The Kazan team’s coach, Kurban Berdyev, agrees with his French counterpart’s assessment of his team.
”We’ve been following the French club and some of its footballers individually for a pretty long time. Lyon are a much more attacking team than us. We tend to more defensive football,” he said.
“Lyon are one of the strongest clubs in France. They have extensive experience in the Champions League. I think it’ll be interesting for the fans to watch how we play against this team,” he added.
But Rubin’s capabilities at the back on Tuesday will be hampered by the absence of key player Cristian Ansaldi.
The 24-year-old had been racing against time to recover for the crunch game in France, but coach Kurban Berdyev was forced to admit that the Argentinean defender will have to wait on the sidelines for a little longer.