Nantes boss Antoine Kombouaré explains how the Ligue 1 side can match Juventus’ quality in their Europa League meeting tomorrow, saying that the Bianconeri are among the favourites to win the title, along with Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United.
The Bianconeri were dropped from the Champions League after finishing third in their group, behind PSG and Benfica. Tomorrow, they host Nantes in Turin in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs.
“Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal are among the favourites, and of course, the same is true of Juventus,” Kombouaré said at a press conference in Turin, as quoted by TMW.
“They’ve been deducted 15 points in Serie A, and there are many teams involved in the race for the top-four, so they can qualify by winning Europa League, as Allegri said.
“Juventus are stronger than us, they are a top team, but and we’ll do our best trying to fill the gap with great desire,” Kombouaré concluded.
The Bianconeri haven’t played a Europa League game since 2014. The Serie A giants had finished third in their Champions League group also in that season, playing in Europa League in the second part of the campaign.
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri spoke at a press conference on Wednesday insisting that his team must put in full commitment tomorrow as they can earn a Champions League spot by winning Europa League.
Roma are also involved in the competition, while Lazio and Fiorentina play in the Conference League.