Derby Time!!!

By: Inara | August 25th, 2007

Since I’ve started writing for this blog only last April, I’ve never had the privilege of covering a derby. I plan to go all out today, with lots of disparaging pictures and remarks about Lyon’s eternal rival, Saint-Etienne.

August 26, 2007
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3:00 PM Eastern Time (21:00 in France)

The clubs have met 94 times, of which only 29 of those are Lyon victories (26 draws). However, the last time Saint-Etienne won was in 1994, on their own pitch. The last time Saint-Etienne won at the Gerland was in 1993. So it has now been 15 derbies in which Lyon have not lost.

Lyon and Saint-Etienne are bitter rivals, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that this is the biggest derby in France (more details on the rivalry at the bottom of the post).

Match details:

Saint-Etienne made some significant changes to their squads. They sold Julien Sable, Frederic Piquionne, and Zoumana Camara, but they brought in Blaise Matuidi, Cédric Varrault, and Stathis Tavlaridis.

Their midfield is weaker because of Sable’s departure, but their forward line is one of the best in France, featuring two of L1’s best attackers in Pascal Feindouno and Bafetimbi Gomis (one of my favorites).

However, Saint-Etienne’s most famous player is Jeremie Janot, one of L1’s best goalkeepers. He’s passionate about his team and has the best ‘keeper kits EVER. He’s also 100% anti-Lyonnais, especially since last spring, one of OLTV’s presenters said about Janot, “I like him…dead.”

Saint-Etienne are currently in 9th place (Lyon are 12th). So far, they had one win, two draws, and a defeat.

Lyon Info:

Lyon NEED A win. Two defeats can be brushed aside as being off-kilter from all the injuries, but three straight losses would be very worrying. I can’t remember when the last time that happened - definitely not in the last decade.

As it stands, Lyon’s start to the season is their worst in ten years. The club hasn’t done this poorly since 1997, back when OL were pushing for a UEFA Cup spot. To urge their players to be at their best for the derby, 500 Lyon fans showed up to practice today with flares and smoke devices as they waved around signs and handed out flyer’s.

I expect a victory because when Lyon are back into a corner they show their true colors. At least that’s how they used to be. I’ll consider it a success if Lyon can prevent conceding goals due to our makeshift defense (though Saint-Etienne has good strikers, so a clean sheet may not be possible), and hopefully Baros and Benzema will use this opportunity to shine. So let’s say…2-1.

I know some of us have been pretty negative around here lately, disappointed by the performances of the team and the lack of good transfer activity. But this is when Lyon need us to stand fully behind them and cheer them on. So let’s cross our fingers for them and hope they kick some green clad asses.

The supporters at training today.

Out injured at the moment are Cris, Gregory Coupet, Patrick Muller, Fred, and Hatem Ben Arfa. Cris and Coupet will be out for several months while Muller and Ben Arfa have resumed light training. Sidney Govou should be fit. Fred won’t be back until mid September at the earliest.

Le groupe lyonnais: Baros, Belhadj, Benzéma, Bodmer, Clerc, Fabio Santos, Govou, Grosso, Hartock, Juninho, Kallström, Keita, Paillot, Rémy, Réveillère, Squillaci, Toulalan et Vercoutre.

Neither of Lyon’s two newest players, Frederic Roux and Cleber Anderson are on the list. While Lyon could use their services of right now, Perrin isn’t convinced by the level of their level of fitness and would prefer not to rush things. Because of that, Lyon have few options.

Expected lineup:

Vercoutre
Reveillere - Squillaci - Bodmer - Grosso
Keita - Toulalan - Kallstrom - Belhadj
Baros - Benzema

Vercoutre
Reveillere - Squillaci - Bodmer - Grosso
Juninho - Toulalan - Kallstrom
Keita - Benzema/Baros - Belhadj

I don’t think Govou will start; he may come on as a second-half sub. Lyon have no depth at the moment, except at GK, RB and DM, unless Perrin gives Sandy Paillot some minutes. But that’s unlikely since this is a derby.

The game will be broadcast by Setanta. For those of you in NYC, Nevada Smiths will be showing it. And for those of you looking for a stream, I will be busy moving this weekend and may not be able to post. So check here for some links, or feel free to post if you know of any good streams.

Some background on the rivalry:

A powerful team historically, Saint-Etienne were giants in the seventies and are the current record holders for the most number of L1 titles, with a total of ten. But in the early eighties, they suffered a financial scandal and saw a decline in their club.

Since then, Saint-Etienne were relegated twice, the last in 2003 due to falsifying the passports of two of their players, which saw them lose several points.

Despite the drama, some of France’s best players have played for them, including Aime Jacquet, Jacques Santini, Laurent Blanc, and Michel Platini. In the current generation, both Gregory Coupet and Willy Sagnol came through their youth ranks.

Saint-Etienne is only forty miles (60 kilometers) away from Lyon, though to the annoyance of Les Verts, Saint-Etienne is often treated as a poorer suburb of Lyon. In fact, the historical identities that have blended into the footballing mentality of the region is that Lyon is the richer, bourgeoisie neighbor, while Saint-Etienne is more passionate and blue-collared.

Lyon’s fanbase, considered to be “cold,” is not as vibrant as Saint-Etienne’s, who have some of the best supporters in France (perhaps only behind Marseille and Lens). However, the derby is one of the rare occasions when Lyon fans shed their formality and really get behind their team.

The last time these two clubs met up, it was in March (right before the return leg of the CL knockout rounds). Gerard Houllier wanted to take his “B” team to Saint-Etienne but was forced to field his regulars because of the heightened nature of the derby. For many, this is one of the reasons Lyon performed so badly against Roma three days later. The game was also punctured by a brief moment of violence, when fans of the two teams began throwing flares at each other. The teargas from the police forced the players to leave the pitch for a good twenty minutes.

At the time, there was a lot of bitterness between the two clubs over the non-transfer of Frederic Piquionne. Lyon were in the midst of a striker crisis (and they still are, btw) and were relentless in their pursuit of Piquionne, who was one of the better strikers of L1. However, Saint-Etienne refused to sell him, which prompted Piquionne, who was in favor of the move, to say that he was being treated like a slave.

That did not go over well with Saint-Etienne’s management, and after relegating him to the reserves for a few weeks, they sent him on loan to Monaco instead. Typically, Saint-Etienne’s president, Bernard Caizzo, blamed Aulas for the drama, claiming that Lyon were trying to destabilize their rivals by messing with Piquionne’s loyalties.

(Caizzo conveniently forgot that Aulas sold him Lamine Diatta the season before without a transfer fee…supposedly out of goodwill but who knows).

Besides Diatta, not many transfers have occurred between the two clubs, though the most notable is probably Coupet’s, who left Saint-Etienne in 1996 after three years of being their starting goalkeeper. His gamble paid off though, as Lyon got better and better, and this in turn prompted the France NT to give him a chance.

While the bitterness of the old days is a memory for many current fans, it still lingers among some of the older generation, including Michel Platini and Raymond Domenech, who still bear no love for their rival clubs.*

*Platini blamed Aulas for the flare throwing incident last April while Domenech’s big mouth has pissed off Saint-Etienne supporters on more than on occasion.