Roberto De Zerbi, after OM's hard-fought victory in Auxerre: "I saw a team that fought hard."

Roberto De Zerbi, OM coach, after the victory in Auxerre (1-0) : "It was a tough match and these are three important points, even if there was a lot of suffering. If we had always been able to play like this, with this "grit," especially against Angers (2-2, Wednesday) at the end of the match, we would have a few more points and we would be higher in the standings."

(On the difficulties) I can't explain everything either. There was a red card (for Ulisses Garcia, in the 65th minute) , but I saw a team that was fighting. As for the sending-off, for me, he first got the ball, even if his foot was a bit high. When I come here, I think of (Derek) Cornelius; there are some strange things (in February 2025, De Zerbi criticized his defender's sending-off at the Stade Abbé-Deschamps) .

"Atalanta is no more important than Auxerre. For me, Auxerre was just as important as Real Madrid."

(On the lineup) Luckily we won, otherwise you would have torn me to shreds... Regarding (Nayef) Aguerd, he'd been having some discomfort in his hip for a few days. He made himself available, but during the warm-up, it wasn't possible. Emerson wasn't supposed to play, but he gritted his teeth. I never pick the lineup with the next match in mind. (Igor) Paixao and (Mason) Greenwood, I felt they were less sharp against Angers. We mustn't forget that (Timothy) Weah and (Amine) Gouiri are injured. We were coming off two defeats and a draw that felt like a defeat. And here (in Auxerre) , last year (3-0, on February 22, 2025), we lost. So we were determined to get those three points, to get back into second place, not to lose ground, and to create some distance between ourselves and those behind us. "Atalanta (on Wednesday, in the Champions League) isn't any more important than Auxerre. For me, Auxerre was just as important as Real Madrid. We mustn't forget that we have nine injured players."