Olympique Lyonnais proved to be Ligue 1’s most contradictory team last season. At the start of December, they sat bottom of the table and onto their third manager of the campaign after sacking Laurent Blanc and his successor Fabio Grosso. It was not an exaggeration to suggest that the club were staring down the barrel of what would be an unthinkable relegation.
There was little hope for Pierre Sage who had been parachuted into the role of interim manager on the 30th of November from his previous position as head of Lyon’s academy. He had never worked as a first-team coach outside of a 2013 stint in charge of Chambéry SF. And in truth, it seemed obvious that his appointment was little more than a placeholder to tie Lyon over until the Christmas break when they could secure a more experienced name.
However, what occurred next was entirely unexpected as Sage proved to be the perfect man for the role as he expertly averted disaster and oversaw a miraculous resurgence. Under his guidance, the club were radically transformed, the club flew up the table recording a 6th place finish, while also reaching the Coupe de France final (where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain) and securing their place in this season’s Europa League.
Changing expectations shape Lyon’s summer
Sage’s achievements were rewarded over the summer with a two-year deal to keep him on as the permanent manager, and with the contract came a whole new set of expectations. Sage understood that last season had in many ways represented a free hit, “The hard part for me starts now in the sense that there are now expectations of me but that isn’t a problem.” It is, however, a new challenge for the manager.
Lyon have set their sights high this season after the promise that was shown in the second half of last year’s strange campaign. The club have invested heavily with the arrivals of Georges Mikautadze and Moussa Niakhaté (bought from FC Metz and Nottingham Forest respectively for a combined fee of €50.4 million) joining the recruits brought in during the winter transfer window.
The ambition of the owner John Textor has been clear. The American businessman wants to transform Lyon in the long term into a club that is capable of dethroning PSG (and more immediately into a Champions League regular), and this aim has certainly filtered down to the players. Last week, ahead of the season opener, vice-captain Corentin Tolisso declared “The goal of course is to be the highest in the standings… In April or March, I hope to be able to tell you that we are aiming for the podium.”
Lyon brought back to Earth
After a summer spent dreaming of what this season could produce for a settled Lyon side that had kept most of its core players from their miraculous turnaround, Les Gones were provided with a cruel reality check as they closed out Ligue 1’s opening weekend with a 3-0 loss to Stade Rennais.
Rennes were exceptional across the 90 minutes and looked the far more cohesive side even though they came into this game after a summer of upheaval with Désiré Doué, Guela Doué, Enzo Le Fée, and stalwart Martin Terrier all leaving the club for pastures new.
Benjamin Bourigeaud on what was likely his last game for Rennes opened the proceedings with a freekick that took a cruel deflection to trickle past Lucas Perri. Amine Gouiri doubled the score minutes later when he capitalised on Niakhaté’s terrible backpass. It would be an evening to forget for both of Lyon’s big new signings as Mikautadze would go on to miss a penalty in the second half. The game would be put beyond doubt by Henrik Meister a couple of minutes towards the end of the game.
Clearly there is no reason for Lyon to panic about the result. However, it was disappointing that the club looked so out of sync and could not hit the ground running from the opening game. Work will need to be done ahead of a difficult string of fixtures that will see Lyon play AS Monaco, RC Strasbourg Alsace, RC Lens, and Olympique de Marseille.
This week’s Ligue 1 subplots
- PSG began their title defence with a 4-1 victory away at Le Havre AC on Friday evening. The goal-fest would represent the first chance to catch a glimpse of the new Mbappé-less project beginning to take shape in the capital. Read the full match report HERE.
- AJ Auxerre would be delighted if the league ended today. The club sit in fifth place after they defeated OGC Nice 2-1 on their return to Ligue 1 after a year spent in the second division.
- A flying start for Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille after they recorded a 5-1 victory away at Stade Brestois. Luis Henrique, Mason Greenwood, and Elye Wahi all found themselves on the scoresheet as Les Phocéens now top the league (on goal difference). Read the full match report HERE.
