The draw for the round of 32 of the Europa League has presented a formidable opponent for the Gym. The Aiglons have been drawn against the fearsome Lokomotiv Moscow.
The first leg will be played at the Allianz Riviera on Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 PM, and the return leg a week later, on the 22nd, at the RZD Arena in Moscow (at 7:00 PM, which is 5:00 PM French time).
The Moscow club is currently leading the Russian championship, with a 5-point lead (and one game less) over Spartak Moscow.
The Aiglons will meet their former defender Nemanja Pejcinovic in this round of 32, who has been with the club for four years since his departure from the Gym.
The Gym’s opponent finished as the leader of Europa League Group F, ahead of Copenhagen, Sheriff Tiraspol, and the Czechs of Zlin. The Moscow club notably features well-known faces to the French public, such as the former Gym defender Nemanja Pejcinovic, Tottenham’s Vedran Corluka, the Peruvian attacking midfielder Jefferson Farfan, the ex-Lyon player Maciej Rybus, and in attack the Brazilian Ari (who was formidable against the Gym with Krasnodar last season) and the Portuguese Eder, the scourge of the French team at Euro 2016. The team is coached by Yuri Semin (70 years old), who was Russia’s coach in 2005, and who also wore the club’s colors as a player.
This will be the second time that OGC Nice faces a Russian club in a European competition, after Krasnodar in 2016-17.
LUCIEN FAVRE: “DON’T SAY IT’S A GOOD DRAW”
While at a press conference, two days before the Coupe de la Ligue match against Lille, Lucien Favre learned that the Gym would face Lokomotiv Moscow in the Europa League round of 32. “I am more familiar with Dynamo Kyiv or CSKA Moscow, who played against Basel,” admitted the Gym’s coach. “Fred (Gioria) told me they are 1st in the Russian league with a 5-point lead over the others, so we shouldn’t say it’s a good draw, they’re not there by chance. We will discover them, but it’s a team that is perfectly capable of reaching the round of 32.”
DANTE: “IT REMAINS OPEN”
“It’s a rather difficult draw because they are a good team, difficult to play against,” continued Dante. “I know some of their players, like Farfan… and there is quality there.” For the captain, one of the keys to this double confrontation will be found in the Plaine du Var: “We especially need to play a very good first leg. I have already played there (in Russia) with low temperatures, in difficult conditions, and that didn’t prevent us from putting in good performances. It’s still open, but it’s really up to us to take advantage of the first match at home to go there in good spirits.”
