Nice canceled out Ander Barrenetxea opener via Pablo Rosario.
Imanol later said: "It was an open game, with chances in both areas. We are sad about Mikel's chance to get the second and the goal we conceded before half-time. Then, in the second, it is true that we had less possession, but I have to congratulate the players for the game they played.
"I'm half happy, because we could have scored in some of the first half and because they conceded a goal in the last minute before half-time. It makes me sad, because the first half had been very good, against a team that had been coming on strong, here in front of their home crowd. In the second half we lacked legs and we had to defend more than we would have liked, but I'm happy with the great defensive work of the team."
Asked if the draw could be a turning point in his team's poor run of form, he added: "I would say yes. If we don't value the point we got today, I think we would be making a mistake. Just because we played in the Champions League doesn't mean we're going to think we're going to be in the Europa League now.
"Let's see if we have to come to Nice now to create a lot of goal-scoring opportunities and be superior to our opponents all the time, because they're very powerful. I think it's a turning point, that the team sees that it can change its formation without suffering any damage and that there are players to rotate."