Saint-Étienne (AFP)

No stalemate: the new coach of Saint-Etienne, Claude Puel, intends to ride the new dynamic instilled in the Greens to revive his club in the Europa League against the Ukrainians Olexandryia, Thursday at the stadium Geoffroy-Guichard (18H55).

"All matches have priority and their sequence involves a lot of requirements," he insisted Wednesday in a press conference.

It is all the more true that a success would put back in the saddle the Etienne team which counts only one point after two days in group I, obtained on October 3rd against Wolfsburg (1-1). A qualification for the round of 32 is still widely accessible.

"I'm past the age of excitement for a European Cup match," smiled Puel.

"I'm focused, we're late in the Europa League as we can still be in the league (9th), we have to keep on progressing and keep this state of mind, it's an important match in which to put the good ingredients (to win) ", still insists the ASSE coach.

In other words: discipline, rigor and solidarity, qualities that led to the recovery of the Greens.

The Ligerian team remains on a series of three successes of rank, including two since the arrival of Claude Puel (58 years), on October 4th.

The Stephanois won in Nimes (1-0) with his predecessor, Ghislain Printant, before he was thanked the day after the draw against Wolfsburg.

Since then, Saint-Etienne has won the derby against Lyon (1-0) and Bordeaux (1-0), each time in the last moments, which shows progress in the cohesion of the team and its state of play. 'mind.

"The most important thing is to play for the right reward at the end.The main thing is to focus on our game," said Claude Puel.

- The requirement of Puel -

He remains well aware that his team needs to improve again but the positive results contribute to the trust.

"We do not yet have our games in. There is a long way to go," warned the technician as his players seem to adhere to his speech.

"The Puel method - it relies heavily on tactical details - it's a demanding coach - in the field, we have more benchmarks, we are more supportive," admitted striker Arnaud Nordin (21), one of the products of the club's training center.

"We knew he used to play young people, we saw him in Bordeaux and we want to fight for him," he says.

But for Puel, there are no young or old to form a team.

"I have a group and I try to get to know all my players, and my goal is to have an eleven on the road every time, there is no age to start a match," he says. -he.

And Thursday only the victory will count. "The qualification is not played on this meeting but we all want to win and qualify to go as far as possible," says Arnaud Nordin.

© 2019 AFP