Lille quietly confident

Rudi Garcia believes his Lille team has what it takes to recover from a poor run and stay ahead of Marseille in the Ligue 1 title race.

Lille have led the French top flight for much of the season, but three league matches without a win has left them just one point ahead of second-placed Marseille.

Didier Deschamps’ side, the defending champions, have played one fewer match than Lille, meaning they are well placed to overhaul the leaders with six games of the season remaining.

Nevertheless, Garcia has confidence in the ability of his team to hang on to their slender advantage.

“You measure the quality of a side on their ability to bounce back,” Garcia told L’Equipe.

“This group can do that because they know what they have to do.”

“We know that no team will win every match between now and the end of the season – not us, not Marseille or any other team.”

“The moment performances start to slip you have to ensure that you respond well.”

Cameroon international defender Aurelien Chedjou shares his coach’s faith in the mentality of the squad.

“Nothing can trouble us and we don’t feel like we are under pressure,” Chedjou said.

“We want to achieve something great, but without putting ourselves under pressure.”

“It is not nice when you see ‘Aurelien Chedjou titles: none’.”

“There are some great players that end their careers without winning a title, though, so we are lucky to be in such a positive position.”