Dylan Batubinsika: "A match to win!"

Life After Paris

From the match in Paris, I’m taking away only the positives. We enjoyed playing against such a strong opponent, even though, of course, we would have liked to come away with some points. I think we performed well. There’s some regret because we managed to come back to 2-1, and with certain opportunities, we could have made better decisions. That said, we mustn’t forget that they had plenty of chances too.

Sticking to Our Identity

In Paris, the coach gave us clear instructions: we were there to play our game, the one he’s been instilling in us since his arrival. It’s a bold and very attacking style of play. Parking the bus in Paris would have been very risky—it would’ve made for a long evening. We stuck to our principles, and that was the goal.

The Saint-Étienne Playing Philosophy

We’re more proactive now, and we have to shift faster. We work a lot on specific passing patterns and staying close to each other. When we lose the ball, we focus on creating density in our play. It’s a more attractive style, centered on possession. We’re striving to be as technically precise as possible to make it all work.

This Weekend’s Opponent

We’re playing Nantes, a team very close to us in the standings. It’s a decisive match for now, even though nothing will be set in stone at the end of it. It’s a game we need to win, and we’re all aware of that. We’re focusing on ourselves and our new playing principles. If we think it’ll be easier than facing PSG, we’re mistaken.