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Nice manager furious with Balotelli after Champions League exit

Favre singled out criticism at the Italian striker and suggested that Balotelli's negative performance is one of the reasons they could not score any goals.

By Aveek Chakraborty
File Photo: Mario Balotelli

Bengaluru, August 24: Nice manager Lucien Favre blasted star striker Mario Balotelli for putting in a negative performance on the field as the Ligue 1 side crashed out of the Champions League in the playoff round on Tuesday (August 22).

Balotelli was off the field, arguing with the match officials about his adornments just when Napoli broke the deadlock through a goal from Jose Callejon merely after half-time.

That goal stretched out Napoli's aggregate to 3-0 on total and later in the game Lorenzo Insigne finished the tie with a late strike to ensure Napoli's place in the group stage of the Champions league.

After the match, while talking about the performance, an angry Favre singled out criticism at the Italian striker and suggested that Balotelli's negative performance is one of the reasons they could not score any goals.

"They were stronger than us, that was clear right from the draw. But we didn't play as well as we did against Ajax, especially in the return leg."

"Against Ajax, we stuck together more and everyone worked hard. When one or two players do absolutely nothing out on the field, it's impossible to win a match against anyone."

"Mario [Balotelli] wasn't on song tonight - we have to call it like it is. He was barely invested and I should have taken him off earlier. We started to show some promise once I replaced him with a youngster no-one has heard of."

"To build a team, you have to replace the materials that were there and we haven't done that yet - far from it. That's the first thing to say. Right now, we're cobbling our team together. It will be very tough to find the players we want in the space of ten days [what remains of the transfer window]."

Nice will now enter the Europa League group stage, and Favre acknowledged the Ligue 1 club's new challenge and insisted the Second best European tournament is currently their perfect rank.

"The Europa League is the right level for Nice and it'll be a difficult tournament," he said.

"Napoli are strong, they have been at the top for a while and playing the same style of football for years.

"Tactically and physically, they were fantastic tonight. From the moment we got them in the draw, I knew it was going to be very difficult."

Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 9:51 [IST]
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