FC Nantes coach Antoine Kombouaré has no problem piling all the pressure on Juventus for the Europa League play-off. ‘We have nothing to lose, whereas elimination for them would be humiliating.’
The first leg ended 1-1 in Turin, so the Bianconeri need a victory in France to secure passage to the Round of 16.
It has already been a disastrous European campaign for Max Allegri’s side, who lost five of their six Champions League group games and dropped down into the Europa League.
Now they risk being knocked out of that too and Kombouaré knows all too well what that would mean.
“We already achieved a coup by getting the draw in Turin, now we want to try another in order to reach the next round,” said the Nantes coach in his press conference.
“We’ve still only got a 20 per cent chance, but we’ll give it our all. Juve are the favourites, with a coach like Allegri who is one of the best in the world and accustomed to games of this stature.
“Nantes have nothing to lose, whereas elimination for them would be humiliating. This is our opportunity to become part of the legend of this club. Last season we managed crazy things like beating PSG, Monaco and winning the Coupe de France.”
Federico Chiesa, Arkadiusz Milik, Fabio Miretti and Paul Pogba have not made the trip to France, but there is one man concerning Kombouaré.
“Angel Di Maria is a champion and he was the best man on the pitch in the first leg. We hope he’ll be a bit more off form this time.”
France manager and former Juventus star Didier Deschamps will be in the stands for this match, but has not said who he is cheering on.