For those of you are brave enough to describe the above picture with words, it’s caption time!

Bonus points if you can find Lisandro in this picture.

November 4th, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
2:45 PM ET (20:45 CET, 19:45 GMT)

Match Background:

There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said by every media outlet known to man. While most are focusing on Liverpool’s financial woes, Rafa Benitez’s job security, and Fernando Torres’s hernia, some other websites are thoughtfully pointing out that injuries or not, statistics are still on Liverpool’s side. While Liverpool have won their last four away games in France, Lyon haven’t beaten an English side at home since 1967 (I’m not kidding, it was against Tottenham in the European Cup Winners Cup). Furthermore, where Lyon have a history of shooting themselves in the foot when qualification should be a piece of cake, Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League from even worse positions. Then again, that’s in the past. Lyon already changed things around when they beat Liverpool at Anfield (previously they had only ever defeated Everton while on English soil). Who knows, maybe this Lyon can do some more revisions to the good ol’ history textbook.

So let’s talk about the present. Since OL’s trip to Anfield, Liverpool interrupted their shit streak by defeating Manchester United two weeks ago, but they also found the time to lose to Arsenal in Carling Cup and to Fulham in the league. They are currently sitting in 6th place in the EPL table with 16 points, having notched six wins, five losses, and zero draws. They are nine points behind league leaders Chelsea. Domestically, they’ve scored 25 goals and conceded 16. Their top scorer is Fernando Torres, who’s been on the score sheet ten times for Liverpool in the league. In the Champions League, they are still in third place, with one win and two losses. They’ve scored 2 goals and conceded 4. Their two goal scorers so far have been Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun.

Lyon have dropped back down to 2nd place in L1, thanks to two rather embarrassing losses to Sochaux and Nice. With 23 points, they have seven wins, two draws, and two losses. Lyon have scored 17 goals and conceded 11. In the league, the top scorer is Bafetimbi Gomis, who’s scored 5. In Europe, Lyon top their group with 9 points, three points ahead of Fiorentina and six ahead of Liverpool. They’ve scored six goals and conceded only one. However, what’s different about this year is that Lyon’s goals are coming from all over the pitch – there were six different scorers for Lyon’s seven goals (Miralem Pjanic was the player who scored twice). Whether that indicates strength or vulnerability, I’ll leave up to you.

I feel compelled the mention that Lyon’s previously awesome home form in the Champions League – Fortress Gerland, if you will – hasn’t been that great for us in recent years. Of the 8 home games in the last two seasons, Lyon won only two of those, losing another 2, and drawing four. Prior to that, Lyon had 25 home wins out of 27. But again, I should remind myself that ancient history is mostly irrelevant to the players and the manager (most of who haven’t been around that long). Only fans care about stuff like that, and it’s not like I’m going to be on the pitch (well, at least not yet, but if Lyon keep losing defenders…).

If Lyon win tomorrow, they’ll have qualified for the knockout rounds, and all that will be left to play for is who the group winner will be, which would then be decided in the Fiorentina match. If Lyon draw tomorrow, they will still retain their lead in the group, but Fiorentina (assuming they win in Debrecen) will only be a point behind, and Liverpool four points behind, so things could get tricky. Claude Puel wants a win, and so do the players, if only to avoid the headache of qualification stress in the next few weeks. Also keep in mind that both Marseille and Bordeaux won their games today, so if Lyon win tomorrow, it’ll be two weeks in a two where all French clubs are victorious – and when was the last time that happened?

Team News:

Almost everyone on Rafa’s Christmas card list is battling some form of injury, though some are closer to fitness than others. Steven Gerrard will probably be getting prepped for the operating table instead of watching tomorrow’s game on television while Alberto Reira, Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio, Martin Skrtel, and Martin Kelly will be sitting outside in the waiting room. On the other hand, Fernando Torres and Alberto Aquilani passed late fitness tests and are likely to feature in tomorrow’s match. I doubt that either will be on for the full 90 minutes (especially Torres, who wouldn’t be playing if Liverpool’s situation weren’t so dire). But despite all the noise Liverpool have been making, they’re really only missing three players who started against Lyon last week, and one of them, Gerrard, didn’t play that long anyway. I stated this before, but I think Rafa’s injury fears are more intox than anything else.

Le groupe de Liverpool: Reina, Cavalieri – Carragher, Ayala, Darby, Insua, Agger, Kyrgiakos – Kuyt, Lucas, Benayoun, Aquilani, Babel, Mascherano, Spearing, Plessis – Ngog, Voronin, Torres

Across the channel, Francois Clerc has suddenly – and inexplicably – come down with a knee injury. The conspiracy theorist me in thinks it might have something to do with this, but Puel tends to be level headed about these things, and with Anthony Reveillere having issues as well (he had to pull out of the St. Etienne match), I’m hoping it’s nothing serious. Also missing are the three usual suspects – Mathieu Bodmer, Jean-Alain Boumsong, and Cleber Anderson. Honestly, I don’t care what Rafa says about his problems, but at least he has healthy CBs – Lyon don’t even have that. Cris isn’t the healthiest of players while Jeremy Toulalan is playing with a slight injury to his groin, and he really ought to be resting and healing, but Puel has no other options, unfortunately.

Lloris, Vercoutre – Cris, Réveillère, Abenzoar, Gassama, Cissokho, Kolodziejczak, Toulalan – Gonalons, Makoun, Källström, Pjanic, Bastos, Delgado, Ederson, Govou – Belfodil, Tafer, Gomis, Lisandro

Lots and lots of kiddies on this list. Timothée Kolodziejczak, Maxime Gonalons, Ishak Belfodil, and Yannis Tafer, who traveled to Anfield with the senior squad, will be joined by fellow CFA-ers Loic Abenzoar and Lamine Gassama.

Expected Lineup:

It’s mostly predictable. Our defense and midfield are pretty much a lock, so as usual the only variation is up front. Actually, Puel couldn’t even get creative if he tried. With Francois Clerc out, our entire back line has no back ups (unless you count the kids, which I don’t). And since Puel doesn’t use Michel Bastos and Ederson as midfield players, as long as Jeremy Toulalan plays in the back, our midfield has no backups either.

It’s pretty crazy, and it just goes to show that Lyon are a top-heavy team. We have far more attacking options than any other position on the pitch.

We know that Lisandro will start; the question is, will Bafetimbi Gomis start alongside of him? Puel tends to use Gomis as a second half sub, which certainly has his merits, but it’s also true that Lisandro has an easier time when there is another striker for him to play next to. Sidney Govou, captain or not, seems likely to start, but Michel Bastos is still returning from injury, and like Lisandro, has yet to regain his earlier form. Ederson started at Anfield, so he is also an option. Cesar Delgado seems to serve better as a player off the bench, so I don’t expect him to feature until the second half.

Lloris
Reveillere – Cris – Toulalan – Cissokho
Pjanic – Makoun – Kallstrom
Govou – Lisandro – Bastos

Viewing Options:

If you’re in North America, this match will be live on Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Soccer Channel Espanol, Setanta Sports Canada, ITV, and DirecTV. It will be on tape delay at 5 PM on Setanta US. If you live abroad, I suggest you check your TV listings – I’m sure this game will be shown somewhere.

You can also give streaming a try. You can try to find a working here, or you can chuck out $10 and buy one from UEFA.com. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a good stream, as this is one of the bigger matches tomorrow. Remember, sharing is caring, and if you find a working stream, please share!

If you’d rather skip out on the streaming drama altogether, you can follow along on liveblog. Both Football365.fr and Lequipe.fr will have good ones, as will the OL website, where you can also follow along with free audio commentary – though be warned, it’s all in French.

Expected Result:

WIN! WIN! WIN! (I’m banking on Lyon, obviously!). Allez Lyonnais!

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<— Sid’s Serious Captain-y Face.

If you’re wondering why the captain’s armband showed up on Cris last Saturday, despite Sidney Govou also being on the pitch, it’s because our dear (former?) captain was seen drunk in public only two nights before the derby. He was at the Grand Prix de tennis de Lyon (part of the ATP World Tour, for you tennis junkies) with Remy Vercoutre, Florent Laville, and Sylvain Wiltord, another ex-Lyon bad boy. Sadly, pictures of a wasted Govou have yet to circulate on the internet (damn French media – in England they have no scruples about this sort of thing), but video tapes have made their way to Claude Puel’s desk.

Puel wasn’t very happy and took away Govou’s armband, though no word yet on whether this is a permanent change. Puel was pragmatic enough to realize that captain or not, Govou was needed on the pitch, which is why he was in the starting XI against St. Etienne. For Puel, it seems the matter is closed, but Jean-Mimi naturally had more to say. While he did say that Govou is willing to make amends, Aulas also called his leadership abilities into question and said that he’d consider Govou’s punishment carefully. Aulas met with him on Sunday to discuss the situation with him.

I guess this probably seems like an overreaction from Lyon, but given Govou’s hard partying history – and don’t forget that he was arrested for drunk driving less than a year ago – it’s no surprise that the club is so concerned.

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Just for lulz.

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I was going to write about the latest blow to French football’s eternal quest for equality on the global markets, but since Xavier of the Lens Offside has already done such an excellent job in telling us why getting rid of the DIC is really bad news for Ligue 1, I figure, why reinvent the wheel?

Aulas is desperately sounding the alarm. According to him, this change will mean that Lyon lose an extra €6m a year. It doesn’t seem like a lot, at least on the surface, but keep in mind that France already has really strict rules on club finances. Aulas fears that he may not be able to offer extensions to Sidney Govou, Francois Clerc, and other players nearing the ends of their contracts.

Also, here is a great interview (in English!) of Jean-mimi on UEFA.com.

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Kader Keita is the latest ex-OL player to accuse the club of mistreating him. Honestly, all these disgruntled former players make Lyon sound like an abusive ex-husband. Should I be more disturbed?

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I have so much love for these two. Bafe and Lisandro are this, but without the ~dramah~.

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The two latest recruits at Lyon are Norwegian pair Christine Colombo Nilsen and Isabell Hervolsen Both women left Kolbotn for OL Féminines, though their transfer fee remains undisclosed. They were signed just in time for them to be eligible for the club’s CL match against Fortuna Hjørring. Along with Arsenal and Bayern Munich, Lyon are one of three clubs that are still represented in both the men’s and women’s UEFA Champions League. Let’s hope that one of them actually win the damn trophy this time.

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The spot for a third blogger on the Lyon Offside still remains open. John and I post when we can, but I know many of you would prefer more frequent updates. If you think you can post at least once a week, have decent grammar, and are such a diehard fan that you want to share your love of OL with the rest of the world, please read this post.

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Phrase of the day week month: “The unstoppable groin-pocalypse going on at Lyon….What in the name of Cleber’s crotch is going on here?” Found on Dirty Tackle.

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Most of the major roadblocks in the development of OL Land have been removed, as 74% of the population of Greater Lyon are in favor of the new stadium. The biggest obstacle has had to do with the construction of more public transportation to the Decines area, or more accurately, the funding of that new transportation. Right now, there is one dinky tram line that goes out there, which is not enough to support the amount of people expected to utilize public transportation to get to the games (which is estimated at 65%). Some citizens don’t want the city to take on the added burden of these costs (OL wouldn’t be paying for it as it’s the city’s expense), though others argue that the area has long been in need of new train lines regardless, and that the increased revenue to the businesses in the area would make up for the expenses.

In any case, Aulas expects the final plans to be approved this spring, and that applications for the building permits will be completed by fall next year. The expected date of the new stadium is December 8th, 2013.

Lyon have also launched a new website that will keep everyone up to date with the latest news and pictures of the stadium. The site is chock full of interesting stuff, like details about the stadium’s eco-friendly design, the transportation and traffic surveys, a map showing all the sites of interest, and information on how the stadium will be funded (€450m from OL and its private partners and an additional €180m from public funds for transportation purposes).

The architectural firm chosen by Aulas is Populous (formerly HOK Architecture). They have a lot of impressive projects to their name, so we can expect good things from them.

And of course, the photos. I don’t think I’ve posted these pictures before. If you want to see the other pics I’ve posted of the new stadium, just click of the “OL Land/New Stadium” category on the right.

(click to enlarge)

Saturday, OL make their descent into Le Chaudron – and you can believe it will be hot- aka Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to kick-off the only derby that really matters. No matter what form Grenoble are in- and they are atrocious this year- this is the only derby that counts- just keepin it real. Sorry Grenoble fans. In fact, Lyon-St. Etienne is one of the most traditional affairs in the league, and it is one of the three most anticipated matches in L1, the only other traditional matches that are as highly anticipated and intensity-filled being Lille-Lens and the Clasico.

Both squads will be looking for points: OL to try to gain ground on second place Monaco, and first place Bordeaux, and St. Etienne to put some room between them and the drop. Although both of the teams come into the match trying to rebound from recent lows in the form of mini-losing streaks, injury worries which are also a concern and Lyon has the added distraction of having an eye trained on the upcoming Liverpool later in midweek. All that really may matter little in a competion of this magnitude. In fact, if it weren’t that this is an emotional clash for both teams and the fact that both teams have other tangible motivations for a victory, then I’d actually be a little frightened due to OL’s recent bipolar displays in the league matches straddling the last Liverpool game. The fact that Le Verts have alot to play for, coupled with the fact that most teams get fired-up when they get a chance to kick OL in the shins, makes for a bad recipe, but I think this emotionally charged match is just what the doctor ordered in term’s of lifting Lyon’s spirits and injecting them with desire to get back to winning after post-Anfield hangover.

History: This will be the 98th meeting between the two clubs. Lyon haven’t lost since ‘94 and since then, it’s been a series of relatively tight matches. Lyon are 8-12-23 against ASSE. Six of the last nine matches have ended in draws, with an average of one goal deciding the victories, all won by OL of course. The last “blowout” would be St. Etienne’s last victory in ‘94 that ended 3-0.

Out for Blood: The derby in and of itself is an occasion that normaly infuses all players and staff on both sides, with ex-Lyon and ex-St. Etienne players on either side of the ball. This year promises to be no different, with several players and staff who have special stakes vested in the match.

Saturday’s match will be the second derby for ex-Lyon coach Alain Perrin, having lost his first outing at the end of last season 1-0 at home. So rest assured he will be looking to even-up his record.

Even newcomer Michel Bastos has some bad blood between he and St. Etienne full back Jeremy Varault, that stems from his days at Lille.

Jeremy Janot and his rabid anti-Lyon antics are well known, but perhaps the most intruiging situation in this derby will obviously be Bafetimbi Gomis returning to face his former team for the first time, and in the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, now enemy territory, no less. Bafe had a down season last year, and one that saw the Stefanois faithful turn on him to some degree. Gomis will certainly feel the full wrath of the fans come down on him in the form of boos and jeering after having run out of town and into the arms of their much hated rival no less. Bafe’s ubiquitous kissing of the OL insignia and making the “OL” signs with his fingers after scoring goals this season, a show of loyalty to his new club, surely has not gone unnoticed nor needless to say gone over well with the St. Etienne faithful. Hopefully, La Panthere will pull a “Loic Remy” and wreak havoc on his former team.

Don’t forget to check-out the St. Etienne blog that’s up and running now. Check out Benj’s preview.

St. Etienne’s Form: Les Stephanois are currently going through a two match losing streak, having dropped two of their last six. They are sitting slightly above the precipice of the drop in 16th place with a 3-1-6 record. They are 16th at home with just (2) two wins. Their defense is 13th with (14) goals allowed and their offense is 17th with (9) scored.

Offensively, their leading goal scorer is Argentine striker Gonazalo Bergessio with (3) three. Their other four goals are spread out amoungst four other players with one a piece.

They began the season with a three game losing streak, falling to Nice, Toulouse, and Boulougne- which happend to be in form. Aside from maybe two losses, they’ve lost to respectable teams and/or to teams that were in form at the time, and usually by very slim margins.

They’ve taken down Monaco and Bordeaux- a match which I watched, and “dismantled” is a more apt word to describe what they did to Les Girondins- amoungst their exploits in the win column.

Les Verts are going through a mini-injury disaster of their own, that probably has led to their dropping some points recently. Oft Lyon transfer target Mouhamadou Dabo is out, as is Moustapha Bayal Sall, as well as ex-OL defender Sylvain Monsoreau, Boubacar Sanogo and team captain Loic Perrin.

Injuries: Cleber, Boumsong, Bodmer, Seguin, Faure, and to add to the list of the plague of adductor injuries this week is Cissokho, who is a maybe. Delgado and Lisandro missed training on Thursday and have been training lightly around their adductor injuries, but are good-to-go. Kallstrom is back from his muscle problem and in an early Christmas gift, Lloris is back to send the opposition’s 12th man, Remy Vercoutre, back to the bench.

Le groupe lyonnais : Lloris, Vercoutre; Cris, Réveillère, Clerc, Cissokho, Kolodziejczak, Toulalan, Gonalons, Makoun, Källström, Pjanic, Bastos, Delgado, Ederson, Govou, Tafer, Gomis, Lisandro.

Starting Formation: Who knows. Puel mostly defies logic with his selections, but here’s my newest best guess: Lisandro played the whole match last week as did Govou and Pjanic. I’m guessing Lilo comes off the bench while Govou and Pjanic start. I thought Reveillere might be rested last week, but with Cissokho being injured, and Puel possibly not risking Aly before the Liverpool match, we could see either AR, Bastos, or maybe even Kallstrom at LB.

Lloris
Clerc-Cris -Toulalan-Revelliere
Gonalons-Makoun
Bastos-Pjanic-Govou
Gomis

The entire match condensed into a single photo.

Ugh. Not only did Lyon lose to Nice for the first time since 1995, but they also conceded four goals in the league for the first time in four years. I suppose L’Equipe has it right in calling Lyon a team with two faces. One day, they’re world beaters, and the next, they’re a scuffed doormat.

Okay, maybe that’s just me being my typically overly dramatic self. Still, it’s not easy to watch your beloved team concede four goals to a club barely hanging on in the relegation zone, especially when two of those goals were blatantly given away for free by Lyon. Not that I’m detracting anything from Nice – they did their homework, knew what to expect from a team tired from the Champions League, and pushed exactly the right buttons (actually, they didn’t have to do much pushing – Lyon were happy to help). Plus, unlike a few seasons ago, when other L1 teams would piss their pants before facing OL, nowadays the fashion is for small clubs to claim Lyon’s scalp, which seems to occur on a semi-regular basis. Teams like Nice will struggle against other smaller teams but play the match of the season against us.

Oh, the unfairness of it all.

/well, not really. Aren’t I always saying how L1 is stronger than it looks from outside? So I ought not complain when I’m proven right.

Remy, thou hast slayed me.

In terms of a match review…not much to review except the general hilarity of it all. I mean, you know it’s just not a good day when L’Equipe’s average rating of our players is a 3.4 out of 10. In the comments of John’s match thread, some of us were discussing why some fans don’t like Remy Vercoutre. Well, let’s just say that he hasn’t won himself any points. Also, I think this was the first match that Aly Cissokho disappointed in, at least to this degree. Man, he was getting ripped to shreds. In fact, I’d say he was getting the same treatment that Sidney Govou gave to Emiliano Inshua against Liverpool. Totally brutal. We might even need an “R” rating.

The other OL players were pretty transparent. They might have had one or two good moves in them, but they were too busy catching their breath to play much football. Substitutes Cesar Delgado and Ederson combined to score the lone OL goal. In fact, the only good Lyon players were the ex-Lyon players. Loic Remy, Anthony Mounier, and David Hellebuyck (remember him?) all had amazing games. I would weep at that, but I used up all my tears on Vercoutre.

But in all honesty, to echo my imaginary boyfriend, it’s not the end of the world. Lyon are still very much in the title race, albeit in 3rd place (possibly 4th after tomorrow). And as agonizing as today’s game was, no one out there is taking it as a reflection of our squad’s quality. No team can be great 100% of the time, and Lyon are just as prone to off days as any one else. Plus, ask anyone, and they’d gladly admit that they’d prefer to lose the six points surrounding the Liverpool match rather than the Liverpool match itself. I’m sure by next week, after the players have gotten some much needed rest, healing, and impromptu video game tournaments, they’ll be back to their usual kick ass selves.

Proof that life is possible outside of Lyon.

However, I do have one concern. Puel has to find a way to more effectively manage squad rotation. I’ve noticed that he’s done this before – he likes to use the same starting XI from a midweek European match in the game the following weekend. I know that works some of the time, especially when the players have built up winning momentum, but sometimes that tactic backfires. Today, all players looked dried up. They had no juice left. Not even a drop. Granted, right now there are a lot of injuries to contend with, but he could have started Cesar Delgado, Michel Bastos, or even Francois Clerc. Even Ederson would have been a good option. It’s not like these guys are from the CFA squad – they all have tons of experience.

Last season, Lyon dropped 25 points in the matches that immediately preceded or followed a Champions League game. And while I’d sacrifice the league title for significant progress in the CL, if Lyon aren’t careful, they might end up in another shit streak and start dropping points left and right in these kind of games. So this is something for Puel to be wary of.

Video Highlights:

Nice have fallen, and they have fallen hard after the departure of coach Frédéric Antonetti to Rennes. They currently languish in the relegation zone, just above winless Grenoble who are keeping them from the rock bottom of the table. Indeed, since Antonetti’s departure, Les Aiglons have had a complete reversal of fortunes: going from a perennial top-of-the-table squad in the last couple of years, to relegation material.

And I have to give club president Maurice Cohen some credit, well, I don’t know if it was avarice or foresight that prevented him from selling Loic Remy to OL this summer, because, he seems to be the main reason that Nice isn’t winless, and may play an integral part of any future surge that Nice may mount to battle their way out of the basement in the coming months. Loic makes-up 50% of the offense.

History: Nice have a winning record in all head-to-head competions vs. OL. They are 19-8-12 vs. Lyon. But, you’d have to go back to September of ‘95, when Nice took a 1-0 victory at home vs. OL, to find their last win.

Nice’s Form: As afromentioned, Nice are in dysmal form. Aside from a 3-2 victory against Valenciennes two weeks ago, Les Aiglons haven’t had a victory since week one( vs. St. Etienne 2-0). They currently sit in 19th place in the table with a 2-2-5 record. They have just one (1) win at home and are 19th in that department. They are 14th in attack with nine (9) goals scored. Their defense is an absolute shambles: a dysmal 20th in defense- last in the league- with (20) goals allowed.

When they lose, they usually lose big: Nice have gone down by an average margin of two (2) goals in their loses, and have given-up (3) goals on average in all their losses. They have taken real beatings at the hands of: Bordeaux: 4-0; Montpellier: 3-0; Monaco: 3-1; St. Etienne: 4-1; and Lorient: 4-1. Just an added woeful defensive stat: Nice has allowed and average of two (2)goals/pr match in all competitions.

Again, like last week vs. Sochaux- well they did have something to play for in their fallen teammate- OL only have themselves to blame for anything less than a victory in the match.

Injuries: Cleber, Boumsong, Bodmer, Seguin and Faure are still out. The hospital gets even more full this week, since Kim Kallstrom will miss the trip, out with “muscle pain,” and in news that really sank my spirits, Hugo Lloris will miss his homecoming and is out with- you guessed it- adductor problems!!!!!!! What the hell is going on? Is this the trainer’s fault or is there really a superior deity who is torturing OL for shits and giggles? In the last two years it was devastating knee injuries, and this year, the flavor of the season is the adductor strain.

This injury comes at the worst time in that we have an upcoming stretch of games that will require our utmost on the defensive side of the pitch; matches against St. Etienne at the end of this month then a murderous entire month of November, with matches against Liverpool, Marseille, Fiorentina, and Rennes respectively. The calender looks intimidating, but even more so when you imagine Remy Vercoutre starting during that stretch.

There is some good news though: Cris is operational after that knock to the head that he recieved at Anfield on Tuesday, so thakfully we won’t be seeing Maxime Gonalons at CB.

Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre, Hartock – Cris, Réveillère, Clerc, Cissokho, Kolodziejczak, Toulalan, Gonalons – Makoun, Pjanic, Bastos, Delgado, Ederson – Govou, Belfodil, Tafer, Gomis, Lisandro.

Prediction: I think OL still have an Anfield hangover, but that won’t be enough to stop them from putting a couple of goals through Nice’s swiss cheese, sieve of a defense. 2-1 due to Vercoutre’s tending the nets.

Formation:

Vercoutre
Clerc-Cris -Toulalan-Cissokho
Pjanic-Makoun-Ederson
Bastos-Gomis-Lisandro

Pure Joy.

People might say, “Oh but Liverpool didn’t have their two star players,” but then Lyon didn’t have any central defenders. So I’d call that an even handicap. Liverpool are one of the biggest teams in the world, so I don’t buy their weak bench as an excuse when theoretically, ours ought to be weaker than theirs (though that is arguably not the case). At any rate, what it boiled down to was this: Lyon played for the full 93 minutes, and Liverpool didn’t.

The match itself was fairly even. I don’t think one side outplayed the other, as both Liverpool and Lyon went through phases of domination. There could have been a lot more goals for the two teams, but both goalkeepers were on top of things. Both squads also lost an important player to injury in the first half – Steven Gerrard and Cris. For those of you who don’t know, Cris decided to tackle Dirk Kuyt’s knee with his head and had to be taken out because they feared he had had a concussion.

Puel replaced Cris with youth player Maxime Gonalons. With Jeremy Toulalan already playing as a CB, Gonalons, a DM by trade, was forced into playing a strange position for his CL debut. But he responded well to the pressure and scored the first goal.

I might not have agreed with Puel’s starting XI (Ederson, really?), but his choice of subs was inspired. Bafetimbi Gomis might not have scored, but he and Lisandro wore down a tired Liverpool defense and made Cesar Delgado’s last gasp goal possible.

WTF were you thinking, Cris?

Other positives: Hugo Lloris was awesome! I’ll be remembering that save from Fabio Aurelio’s header for a long time. Sidney Govou had Emiliano Insúa in his back pocket for the entire match, and it was his cross that led to Delgado’s goal. Kim Kallstrom once again put in a steady performance, as did Toulalan and Lisandro. The fullbacks were decent though I’ve definitely seen them do better. Jean II Makoun looked a bit lost at times, and did Ederson.

But the biggest shout out has to go to the fans who traveled all the way to England. It was amazing to hear their chants drown out those of the Liverpool supporters, especially those after the first OL goal. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought that the game was taking place at the Stade de Gerland!

All in all, it was a solid game and a fully deserved victory. Right now, Lyon top their group with nine points out of a possible nine. There are still three games remaining, two of which are at home. Lyon have 90% qualified for the knockout rounds and are favorites to top their group.

Some highlights:

Kongo Kim sees Rafa sneaking into the Lyon training session.

October 20th, 2009
Anfield, Liverpool
2:45 PM ET (20:45 CET, 19:45 GMT)

Match Background:

I don’t care what EPL fans say about how winning their league is more important than progressing in Europe, it’s crucial for Liverpool to at least qualify for the knockout rounds, or else he’ll be short 20 million euros during the next summer transfer window. So even though Liverpool have a massive game against Manchester United next weekend, you can bet that all of Rafa Benitez’s attention will be on tomorrow’s game. Unfortunately, that puts OL in a tougher position – instead of facing a somewhat complacent team, they’ll have to face extra determined players. For Liverpool, it’s imperative that they win all their games at home if they want to keep their dreams of qualifying alive.

Lyon, obviously, have different plans. Claude Puel has his own tough schedule to contend with, with matches against St. Etienne, Marseille, and Liverpool again within the next month, so for OL, the sooner they can earn those 11 points (which is about what we’d need to safely qualify for the knockout stages), the better. But before we get into all that, let’s talk about those Reds.

Their season so far has been lukewarm at best, and having lost their last three matches (to Fiorentina, Chelsea, and Sunderland, respectively), Liverpool have fallen seven points behind league leaders Manchester United. Rafa is desperate to get things back on track, and he’ll be hoping that tomorrow’s game, which is at home for them, will be the place to start. I’m not going to talk too much about them, since as a club, they are fairly well known, but for those who are like me and therefore completely ignorant of football outside of France, I’ll just touch on some of their key players.

Team captain Steven Gerrard is probably the one to watch out. A Liverpool youth product (crazy, I know), he has a ton of European experience and even a CL trophy under his belt. For a midfielder, he gets quite a few goals, both from in the box and from a distance. Javier Mascherano, who was out for a while due to injury, is back to full fitness. And let’s not forget their goalkeeper Pepe Reina, as well as Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel (whom Lyon almost bought a few years ago), who can be potent goal threats. Also of note is the presence of Damien Plessis, a Lyon youth product who left France two summers ago in search of more playing time. As for their coach, Rafa is no slouch in the tactics department, having maneuvered Liverpool to two CL finals, one of them which he won. He’s known for extensively researching opposition teams down to the last detail (and perhaps too strong of an attachment to the concept of squad rotation…).

Currently, they’re in 8th place in their domestic championship, having accumulated 15 points. They’ve notched five wins and four losses, having scored 22 goals and conceded 13. In the Champions League so far, they won their first match against Debrecen thanks to a single goal from Dirk Kuyt, and they lost their second game to Fiorentina thanks to the crazy powers of Steven Jovetic.

Going back to Lyon, Puel will also be hoping that the weekend defeat to Sochaux – the first loss of the season – won’t put a damper on the momentum Lyon have gained over the last two months. Juggling with injuries has made things tough in recent weeks, but thankfully, Lyon’s main rivals have been having problems of their own, so the L1 title race is still wide open. Right now, Lyon are tied in 1st place with surprise package Montpellier. Bordeaux are a point behind in second while Marseille are three points behind (but in 5th place). OL have won six games, drawn two, and lost one, having scored 15 goals and conceded 7. Their performance in the CL has been good so far, with two wins out of two, six goals scored and none conceded.

Tomorrow will no doubt be a tense match for both sides – Liverpool fearing their chances of qualification and Lyon needing to convincingly win against a big team abroad. The two clubs have never played each other (not even in a friendly!), but instead of being nervous, OL players are excited because they’re visiting a stadium they’ve never played in before. The Champions League is all about magic, so let’s hope we’ll see some tomorrow night!

Team Info:

The big question mark leading up to this match has naturally involved Liverpool. Both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres picked up groin injuries during international week, but while Gerrard was able to shake his off, Torres will be missing tomorrow’s match. Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Alberto Aquilani will also be watching from the sidelines as they recuperate from knee and ankle injuries.

Le groupe de Liverpool: Reina, Cavalieri – Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Insua, Aurelio, Dossena – Benayoun, Riera, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Darby, Plessis, Spearing – Babel, Voronin, Kuyt, Ngog

So there is some good news and bad news if you are a Lyon fan. The good news is that Lisandro Lopez and Michel Bastos are back. Cris has also shaken off last week’s injury scare, and Jeremy Toulalan is still healthy and as-of-yet unsuspended. The bad news is that Mathieu Bodmer, Jean-Alain Boumsong, and Cleber Anderson - three of Lyon’s four CBs – are still out. To make things even more unbelievable, the usual defenders whom Puel calls up from the CFA team are also injured. Sebastien Faure, Nicolas Seguin, and Thomas Fontaine are also out.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the real reason Lyon never sign any defenders because that position on our team is cursed.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Cris, Réveillère, Clerc, Cissokho, Kolodziejczak – Toulalan, Källström, Gonalons, Makoun, Pjanic, Bastos, Delgado, Ederson, Govou – Belfodil, Tafer, B.Gomis, Lisandro

Besides Timothée Kolodziejczak, Puel doesn’t even have any replacements for the missing defenders. Maxime Gonalons, Ishak Belfodil, and Yannis Tafer will also be accompanying the senior team, but don’t expect any of them to play.

Expected Lineup:

We’ll definitely be seeing Jeremy Toulalan partner Cris in central defense. On the right, I expect to see Anthony Reveillere, and on the left, Aly Cissokho, who has turned into Mr. Champions League. In the middle, Kim Kallstrom was rested over the weekend so that he would be fit for tomorrow, as was Miralem Pjanic, who only came on towards the end of Lyon’s game against Sochaux. Those two are logical starters to accompany Jean II Makoun, who will be the lone DM. There is also the possibility of utilizing Francois Clerc in right midfield, but I don’t think it would be wise to chance it, not if it means we have to sacrifice Pjanic.

Up front, it’s the deadly trio (who weren’t at all deadly last Saturday) of Lisandro Lopez, Bafetimbi Gomis, and Michel Bastos. The only change I can imagine is if Puel drops Gomis to put in Clerc at RW.

Lloris
Reveillere – Cris – Toulalan – Cissokho
Pjanic – Makoun – Kallstrom
Bastos – Gomis – Lisandro

Viewing Options:

Ironically, now that ESPN no longer has Champions League viewing rights, the usual English domination of CL broadcasting has ended, as Fox Soccer Channel makes more of an effort to show games from a variety of leagues. Which means that Lyon will not be broadcast live in the US. The only way to watch it live is if you A) live in another country with better broadcasting rights, B) subscribe to DirectTV, Sportsnet Ontario, or Skysports HD, or C) are actually going to Anfield. Otherwise, you can wait until 10 PM Eastern time for FSC to show the match on tape delay.

OR, you can foray into the unreliable world of streaming. You can try to find a working here, or you can chuck out $10 and buy one from UEFA.com. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a good stream, as this is one of the bigger matches tomorrow. Remember, sharing is caring, and if you find a working stream, please share!

If you’d rather skip out on the streaming drama altogether, you can follow along on liveblog. Both Football365.fr and Lequipe.fr will have good ones, as will the OL website, where you can also follow along with free audio commentary – though be warned, it’s all in French. (About an hour before the match, I’ll update this section with the links to the liveblogs.)

Expected Result:

Even without Torres, Liverpool are a dangerous side to face with a lot of attacking threats. And it’s not like Lyon have the optimum defensive cover. BUT…I think Lyon can manage to get at least a point out of tomorrow’s trip. The most important thing is for the players to keep their cool and not allowed themselves to get intimidated by the stakes.

Well, after the short but much needed international break, Lyon head back to office. The break gave us some much needed time for the laundry list of players out due to injury, to continue their convalescences. But unfortunatley, we haven’t healed where we really need it: on the defenesive side of the ball, but there is a ray of light in that our two offensive superpowers Lisandro and Bastos- who shockingly haven’t been missed very much since they’ve gone down- will be match ready. What a difference a year makes: imagine our two best offensive players going down last year, and what a disaster that would have been! But as always, our CBs continue to limp along, with the injury monster rearing it’s ugly head again this week, although we might have dodged a bullet on that one- more on that later.

More important than Saturday’s match though, is the sad news that’s struck both the Sochaux and the US footballing community: Sochaux and US international striker Charlie Davies was involved in a serious car accident midweek in Washington D.C. Apparently Davies’ passenger died in the crash and Charlie was listed in serious but stable condition after hours of surgery to repair fractures to this right tibia and femur by having steel rods inserted in them, fractures to his left elbow and face, as well as a lacerated bladder. The doctors say it will take anywhere from six to twelve months to recover from the injury through intense rehab and that he will be bedridden for one to two months. Hopefully Davies makes a swift recovery and return to L1- where he’s quickly become a favorite, and to international football.

As for the match, Sochaux have their work cut out for them. Lyon are in blistering form, and Sochaux walking out of Gerland with even a draw seems highly unlikely.

Sochaux’s Form: Les Lionceaux are below par in just about every category. A perennial mid-table squad, they are currently in 14th place in the league, hovering just over the drop, with a 3-0-5 record. They have just two (2) wins at home- ranked 14th, and more importantly for our purposes, just (1) one win away- ranked 16th. They are ranked 14th in attack with (8)eight goals scored, and 16th in defense with (13) allowed, just four less than last placed Grenoble.

Sochaux had been on a four match losing streak and have just two wins in their last seven before taking a victory at home vs. lowly Le Mans, right before the break. They have not managed to score more than one goal in each of their three victories, all of them ending with a 1-0 scoreline, and only one of those victories came on the road. This fact, coupled with the fact that with the loss of their major offensive signing of the summer Charlie Davies, Les Lionceaux will lose 1/4 of their offense, things look bleak. The only worries left are the Lion’s remaining “teeth:” striker Vaclav Sverkos and CMF Marvin Martin- the other half of the offense. The only hope they have are that OL have become rusty over the break and come-out completely flat, or that the tragedy of their fallen teammate, infuses their play. Other than that, I’m going with a 2-0 Lyon victory.

Injuries:

Les Lyonnais: The usuals: Cleber, Boumsong, Bodmer; Cris- what the F#CK is going on with adductors this year?- was a maybe until late Friday, and so was Kallstrom who picked-up some muscle injury on international duty. They are both included in the group but are I guess will have to wait to see if they are operational on Saturday. If not, we may see a Makoun-Toul pairing at CB with Seguin out with a muscle strain, and Faure and Fontaine not available for whatever reasons. Oh, and in terms of some good news: Bastos, Delgado and Lilo are back in form, so they’ll probably see some light second half action.

Le groupe lyonnais : Lloris, Vercoutre- Cris, Réveillère, Clerc, Cissokho, Kolodziejczak, Toulalan, Källström, Gonalons, Makoun, Pjanic, Bastos, Delgado, Ederson, Govou, Belfodil, Tafer, Gomis, Lisandro.

Sochaux: As if the loss of the Charlie Davies wasn’t a big enough blow to an already light squad, Sochaux are experiencing their own injury crisis. Les Lionceaux will be without Boudebouz, Stevanovic, Carlao and Dalmat. The only good news for them, and maybe bad for us, is that Sverkos will be back in action after injury.

Le groupe sochalien: Dreyer, Richert – Faty, Perquis, Bréchet, Jokic, Mikari, Josse, Dramé – Martin, Maurice-Belay, Gavanon, Nogueira, Tulasne – Sverkos, Butin, Privat, Gurler.

Starting Formation:

The only doubt for me is does Lilo start?

Lloris
Reveillere-Cris -Toulalan-Cissokho
Clerc-Makoun-Pjanic
Govou-Gomis-Lisandro

Inara and John aren’t going anywhere, but they have asked me to find a third writer to help them out, keep the posts coming, and generally be part of a deadly OL blogging trident.

However, Because Inara and John have set such excellent standards here, I’m setting the bar very very high. If you want to join them and blog on Lyon Offside, you must have:

1. An excellent command of the English language.
2. The ability to write with insight, opinion and humour.
3. A good understanding of how blogs work. Links, images, videos etcetera.
4. The commitment to post regularly. At least three times a week.

If interested, please read The Offside blogger guidelines here and then email me at daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com with a bit about yourself and and a short Lyon related writing sample.