The Ghanaian international has only started twice for Sage this season after he pointedly rejected a move away from the club this summer. Fulham FC had been interested in Nuamah and even flown their medical staff out to the French city to perform their examinations. 

However, Nuamah walked out of the medical as he was determined to remain at Lyon and play for the club in their European campaign. Nuamah started Lyon’s first Europa League match against Olympiacos but made only a 14-minute substitute appearance against the Scottish side. 

Despite the limited minutes, Sage was not pleased with the winger’s showing. The manager in his post-match comments stated “I really liked the entry of Saïd Benrahma who created situations for himself and played for the team. I expected a little more from Nuamah because I think there was a difference between his game and his teammates. He went looking for things a little more himself than for the team.” 

Lyon will hope to translate their European form into their domestic season as they host FC Nantes on Sunday afternoon. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Fofana was once again on the scoresheet during the trip to Glasgow. The Belgian winger opened the scoring in the 10th minute before registering a brace in the second half when he scored Lyon’s fourth of the evening completing the rout of the Scottish side. 

In his postmatch comments, Pierre Sage was hopeful that Lyon could look to build on this result, although he was keen to point out that previous performances had not been awful. “[Our games] before were not so bad,” the manager stated, “I hope that after [this match] we will be even better. Indeed, this could be a match that leaves its mark on our group. Today, our only concern is to win our home match against Nantes in Ligue 1, we need to take points and move up the rankings.” 

Lyon host Nantes on Sunday afternoon. Their visitors are in mixed form despite their position in the table (7th) having thrown away winning positions against the two teams at the bottom of the table, Angers SCO (1-1) and AS Saint-Étienne (2-2), by conceding penalties. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The deluge in Rome started way before kick-off between Nice and Lazio in matchday two of the Europa League. And it never relented. Lazio took control of the match whilst the pitch was still just about playable, with the Serie A side heading into the break with a 2-1 lead. 

‘The second half was no longer football’ – Nice manager Haise

However, as the second half progressed, the pitch became increasingly sodden, to the extent that dribbling became impossible. It became long-ball football and in these conditions, Lazio adapted better, eventually going on to win the match 4-1. However, Dante believes that the match should have been halted due to the playing conditions. 

“I think at one point the game [should have been postponed] yes. Maybe with the calendar as it is it would have been even more difficult to replay the match but above anything else, but you have to be careful about players’ health because if one or two get injured, we would have asked why,” said the Nice captain post-match. 

Without echoing Dante’s calls, Franck Haise was also critical of the conditions.“I’m not going to analyse the second half too much – even if we quickly conceded the third goal which definitively put us out of arm’s reach – given the conditions. I can’t talk about the game in the second half because there couldn’t be one. The second half, it was no longer football,” said the Nice manager. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Lucas Perri was called into action early on after Tavernier found himself with the ball in a fortunate position, but the Rangers captain couldn’t convert from close range. The hosts continued to press forward in the early stages, and Cerny had a glorious chance to score the opening goal of the match with the goal gaping, but his effort was over. It was then Lacazette’s turn to shoot but Butland was equal to it. 

Against the run of play, it would be Lyon who opened the scoring. After a brilliant run from Cherki, the ball fell to Malick Fofana who expertly bent his effort into the bottom corner. Two goals in two games for the Belgian winger. However, OL were soon pegged back. Rangers made their dominance count. A terrible passback from Tolisso with his head caught Perri out and the Brazilian failed to hold the ball allowing Lawrence to place the ball home to level the match. 

Les Gones were soon back in front. Malick Fofana capitalised on a loose pass from Barron and remained composed in the area to pick out Lacazette. The Lyon forward made no mistake with a simple finish by sending Butland the wrong way. Fofana almost made it three with another marauding run forward but his effort is tame and straight at the Rangers stopper. 

Cherki should have made it three after picking up a loose pass in midfield and linking well with Lacazette, but the Frenchman’s final touch was too heavy. On the stroke of half-time, Lacazette doubled his account and extended the visitors’ lead. The OL captain cut inside from the left flank with ease before rifling in a powerful effort from 20 yards into the top corner. Lyon led 3-1 at the break. 

The hosts came out positively in the second half and continued to pile pressure on a fragile OL defence. However, Lyon extended their lead thanks to another brilliant move from their attacking trio. Dancing feet from Cherki allowed the Frenchmen to get to the byline and fizz a cross through the six-yard box for Fofana to tap in at the back post for his second goal of the evening.

Lyon almost made it 5 from a corner as Ćaleta-Car hit the crossbar before Tolliso’s rebound was cleared off the line.  As Rangers looked to find a way back into the game, Dowell launched a volley from the edge of the area but Perri was able to make a big save. Benrahma almost scored instantly from the bench but Butland denied the Algerian – a big chance for the substitute. 

Lyon player ratings: 

Lucas Perri – 6

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6

Duje Ćaleta-Car – 6

Clinton Mata – 6

Nicolás Tagliafico – 6

Nemanja Matić – N/A, replaced by Caqueret due to injury in the 27th minute.

Corentin Tolisso – 5

Jordan Veretout – 5

Rayan Cherki – 8, Illusive throughout the night, the attacking midfielder was offered a freer role from the right flank and thrived because of it. With close control and dancing feet, the Frenchman looked to be enjoying his football and caused havoc for the hosts’ defence. 

Alexandre Lacazette – 8, A profligate run in front of goal ended with two brilliant goals from the Lyon captain. The second strike was the pick of the goals on the night as it rifled into the top corner. His overall attacking play acted as a platform for Cherki and Fofana to thrive

Malick Fofana – 9, The Belgian was electric throughout the match. Whether it be his anticipation to win the ball back high, his pace and quick feet to beat his man or his decision-making in the final third, Rangers could not get near the 19-year-old. 2 goals and an assist capped off a coming-of-age performance for the winger. 

Maxence Caqueret – 6

GFFN | Liam Wraith

OGC Nice succumbed to the first defeat of their UEFA Europa League campaign, losing 4-1 to Lazio amid impracticable conditions in Rome.

The Match

Amid torrential conditions in Rome, Nice tried to weather the storm early on. Valentin Castellanos and Matías Vecino both struck the woodwork within three minutes as Lazio applied the pressure early on. It eventually counted. Jonathan Clauss cleared Patric’s initial effort off the line, however, Pedro, who had taken the corner in the lead-up to the chance, steamed in, curling a sumptuous effort in off the underside of the bar.

However, having scored, Lazio dropped off, allowing Nice to grow into the game. Le Gym looked dangerous and had good territory over a 15-minute period but failed to create anything clear cut. In contrast, Lazio were efficient in poseession and, against the run of play, they doubled the lead through Castellanos, who profited from a Youssouf Ndayishimiye error to race through one-on-one and beat Marcin Bulka.

But Nice would get their reward before the break. Jérémie Boga finished off a lovely team move, latching onto Youssoufa Moukoko’s chip around the corner and volleying into the bottom corner.

The rain continued to fall throughout the second half as the pitch became increasingly impracticable. In those conditions, one team learned to adapt – Lazio. Castellanos doubled his account with another strong finish after latching onto a ball in behind. The Serie A side then went three goals ahead after Castellanos went down in the box after Bulka advanced from his goal.

The referee pointed to the spot, Bulka pleaded that there was no contact and replays seemed to back-up his claim. However, VAR did not intervene and Mattia Zaccagni did the rest from the spot. By the 65-minute mark, the pitch was so sodden that it became impossible to dribble and it became a long-ball match

Substitute Evann Guessand almost pulled one back after getting in behind but Nice could not force a comeback and by the end, Franck Haise, with Paris Saint-Germain coming up on Sunday, had given up hope. The substitions of key players at least read like that, whilst he was also locked in discussions with match officials regarding the state of the worsening pitch. The game ended 4-1 as Nice succumbed to their first defeat of the European campaign.

Nice player ratings

Marcin Bulka – 5

Dante – 5

Moïse Bombito – 5

Youssouf Ndayishimiye – 3

At fault for Lazio’s scond, the converted centre-back struggled to contend with Castellanos throughout.

Tom Louchet – 6

Pablo Rosario – 5

Hicham Boudaoui – 4

Jonathan Clauss – 6

A definite bright spark and a source of threat for Nice, especially in the first-half. He owes his career for the France national team to Haise and, nor reuinited at Nice, the former Lens manager is once again getting the best out of Clauss. His link-up play with Bouanani was strong throughout and his distribution caused the Lazio defence plenty of issues.

Jonathan Boga – 7

A threat in the first half and he took his goal brilliantly. The pitch didn’t suit his play style and as it became impossible to carry the ball forward, his influence, logically, waned.

Youssoufa Moukoko – 5

Badredine Bouanani – 5

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Danilo, Rabbi Matondo, Ridvan Yilmaz, and Oscar Cortes are all out for Glasgow Rangers and will take no part against Lyon. Yilmaz is nearing a return but has not been included in the matchday squad. However, Mohamed Diomandé has. The midfielder didn’t feature at the weekend and there were fears that he would miss the encounter with Les Gones. 

However, Clement confirmed his presence in the squad, whilst L’Équipe understands that he will actually start against Lyon at Ibrox. Ianis Hagi is the other absentee for Rangers. He is not registered in the Scottish side’s Europa League squad and is therefore ineligible. 

Rangers likely line-up v Lyon

Jack Butland; Neraysho Kasanwirjo, Robin Pröpper, John Souttar, James Tavernier; Connor Barron, Mohamed Diomandé; Nedim Bajrami, Tom Lawrence, Václac Cerny; Cyriel Dessers. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

There are three former Marseille players on the books at Lazio. One of them, Samuel Gigot, who left the French club this summer, is not in contention to feature due to injury. However, France international Mattéo Guendouzi is almost certain to start in the midfield against one of OM’s greatest rivals, Nice. 

Nuno Tavares also spent a season on loan at Les Phocéens during the 2022/23 campaign. However, the former Arsenal full-back may have to settle for a place on the bench as Les Aiglons visit the Italian capital with Marco Baroni set to rotate his squad heavily.

Lazio likely line-up v Nice

Christos Mandas; Luca Pellegrini, Patric, Mario Gila, Adam Marusic; Matias Vecino, Mattéo Guendouzi; Pedro, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Loum Tchaouna; Valentin Castellanos. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Rangers and Lyon will meet on Thursday on matchday two of the UEFA Europe League at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.

At a pre-match press conference, the former AS Monaco manager said: “I would like to have the same financial problems as Lyon.“

During the summer transfer window, OL spent over €100m on new signings, including over €50m on two players from Nottingham Forest, Moussa Niakhaté and Orel Mangala.

However, all the spending has not yet yielded results for Pierre Sage’s team, as they sit 11th in the Ligue 1 table with seven points after six matchdays.

Meanwhile, Rangers spent approximately €16.86m, according to Transfermarkt over the last window.

While Clement is seemingly trying to label Lyon as the favourites for this encounter, OL midfielder and 2018 World Cup winner with France Corentin Tolisso (30) doesn’t agree with the Belgian.

“Rangers were in pot one, like us. I’d say it’s 50/50. I wouldn’t say Rangers are the underdogs by any means,” says Tolisso.

After six matchdays, Rangers are third in the Scottish Premiership, five points below Aberdeen and their Glasgow rivals Celtic for first.

Lyon won their first Europa League fixture, 2-0 over Olympiacos, with the Scottish side winning by that same score against Malmö.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre

It was Evann Guessand who started up front against Lens, whilst Mohamed Abdelmonem took Dante’s place in the defence. But Guessand and Abdelmonem are expected to drop to the bench for the trip to Rome. There are no fresh absentees for Nice but it is thought that Tanguy Ndombélé is not fit enough to start, although he has made the trip to Italy. 

Melvin Bard, Morgan Sanson, Gaëtan Laborde and Terem Moffi all remain absent for Les Aiglons, with the latter expected to miss the majority of the campaign.

Nice likely line-up v Lazio 

Marcin Bulka; Dante, Moïse Bombito, Youssouf Ndayishimiye; Ali Abdi, Pablo Rosario, Hicham Boudaoui, Jonathan Clauss; Jérémie Boga, Youssoufa Moukoko, Badredine Bouanani. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Wilfried Zaha and Saïd Benrahma started on the wings for Lyon as they secured a late win against Toulouse FC. However, neither are expected to start against Rangers. Instead, it will be Malick Fofana and Ernest Nuamah on either side of captain Alexandre Lacazette, who will act as a lone striker. Gift Orban and Georges Mikautadze are therefore expected to start the encounter against the Scottish side from the bench. 

Neither Warmed Omari nor Tanner Tessmann, both summer signings, have been included in Lyon’s matchday squad. 

Lyon likely line-up v Rangers

Lucas Perri; Nicolás Tagliafico, Moussa Niakhaté, Duje Caleta-Car, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Nemanja Matić, Corentin Tolisso; Malick Fofana, Rayan Cherki, Ernest Nuamah; Alexandre Lacazette. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle