Nice vs Bordeaux - Yoan Cardinale warns top-three finish not yet secure for Nice

Posted Saturday, April 01, 2017 by PA

Nice insist they are not yet in a Champions League safe seat despite sitting pretty in the Ligue 1 top three.

The south-coast club headed into the weekend with a 14-point cushion over fourth-placed Lyon, and with games running out.

They also only trailed Paris St Germain, who sit second, by four points, and have lost just twice in the French top flight during this campaign.

But Nice are taking nothing for granted ahead of a Sunday evening clash at the Allianz Riviera with Bordeaux, a team that beat them in the Coupe de la Ligue in December and held them to a league draw in the same month.

The top two in France go directly into the Champions League, and third spot earns a place in the qualifying stage.

When asked what trap Nice could fall into, goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale said: "Mainly, we mustn't tell ourselves that third place is secure. For me, that's the biggest risk.

"We mustn't think that Lyon can't come back, because there are still a lot of points to pick up."

Cardinale added, in an interview on Nice's website: "It's great to get to the 31st game of the season and to have only had two defeats. That shows the team is playing football, full of character and knows, if necessary, how to compensate with aggression."

But Bordeaux sat sixth entering the weekend and are aiming to qualify for next season's Europa League, with a strong run of form since the turn of the year boding well for their prospects, and they could be tricky opponents.

"They've come back very strongly in 2017," Cardinale said. "Their coach has brought a new impetus, a new way of playing. That's working mainly well for them."

That coach, Jocelyn Gourvennec, saw his Bordeaux players suffer a desperate run of league results in December, with the draw against Nice following three straight defeats.

Last summer he came in and inherited a side who had trailed in a dismal 11th in Ligue 1, and despite the December blip an improvement on that looks assured.

A 5-1 win over Montpellier last week showcased their recent progress.

Gourvennec said: "If we keep the same spirit that we've had until now, we'll continue to build.

"Last week was very good. I think the players have a bit more confidence in themselves now, and they're a little more mature too.

"We have to show that on the pitch. We've got a big match at Nice. We're capable of doing something. It's a super match to play. Nice are a very good team, who lose very rarely.

"It's a great challenge to make them doubt themselves, to needle them in their own stadium.

"I think we've gone up a notch in comparison to where we were in December."