Saturday, OL head to the foot of the French Alps and look to kick their season back into gear after the international break, and an exhausting battle vs. Marseille, that just barely kept those marauding bandits from stealing three points at Gerland. Aside from all the “match-of-the-season/ all-time-classics of L1″ talk, I only take only a few postitives from the last match: one, at least we didn’t lose and lose even more ground in the race for first. Two, that inspite of allowing five goals, our goal differential stayed the same. And three, that our offensive output showed what it’s really capable of and that we again, showed that gritty, fighting spirit that has allowed us to claw our way back into, and indeed win games, something that was so painfully absent last season. So now Lyon, after recieving a reprieve in their draw with L’OM- luckily Bordeaux went down against Lille in week 13- and failing to fully capitalize by gaining just one point instead of three, look to try to close the one point gap between themselves and the league leaders in Blanc’s boys.

On the face of it, this game looks- for all intensive purposes- to be a potential whopper of a snoozer. To call this a derby is an insult to derbies. Not only because of the fact that Grenoble are winless this season, but also due to the fact that OL have been stinking-up the league with their domestic form lately- five goals against Marseille aside. But Lyon have looked anemic this season when they come off a CL match or the international break, and also seem to be having trouble as of late with these sorry teams that they should be dispatching with ease. I think all this creates a recipe for a very boring match indeed. We shall see.

Grenoble’s Form: What really can be said about the poor guys? The league should really have mercy on them and think about cancelling the rest of their matches because they are bleeding, down to their last drops really, and someone should really have the heart to euthanise them.

They sit at the bottom of the table with a 0-1-11 record. They were on an eleven game losing streak, before they managed to sneak a 0-0 draw against Monaco right before the break, and pick-up their first point of the season.

They are a shambles in every sense of the word: their offense is the worst in the league with (5) scored- that’s Bafetimbi Gomis’s season total alone. Their defense is also the worst in the league with a whopping (23) allowed. And needless to say, worst home and away record also goes to them; they are winless at home.

History: The two teams have only met four times, and OL has won all but one match in 1960 which ended in a draw. Last season, when Grenoble was obviously a much better squad and OL a worse one, Lyon took both matches, with a 2-0 final score in both.

Injuries: Cleber, Reveillere, Gonalons,and Toulalan who still hasn’t recovered from his groin injury he picked-up vs. Marseille, so look to Boumsong to be slipping back into his old slot- Thank God this first game back after his nearly season-long layoff will be against Grenoble! Kallstrom had a touch of the flu midweek, but looks ready to go. Aly Cissokho is suspended.

Le groupe lyonnais : Lloris, Vercoutre- Cris, Boumsong, Clerc, Gassama, Kolodziejczak, Seguin; Makoun, Källström, Pjanic, Grenier, Bastos, Delgado, Ederson, Govou, Gomis, Lisandro.

Formation:

Lloris
Clerc-Cris-Boumsong-Bastos
Pjanic-Makoun-Kallstrom
Govou-Gomis-Lisandro

Prediction: As I said in the opening paragraph, Lyon are generally lethargic after layoffs, and I don’t expect this to be any different, and especially with an probable eye trained towards the Fiorentina match. Although Grenoble are a team worthy of genuine pity, this is exactly the type of team that has given OL headaches as of late: those that seemingly should be put away easily. That coupled with the possibility that Grenoble may have been inspired to build on their momentum, post-Monaco, and who knows. The long lay-off and distraction of Fiorentina are a potential recipe for disaster. I expect a phlematic OL offense to struggle to get into gear, but the weakness of the opposing side’s defense and the utter impotence of their offense- they only have two players who have scored all season- make it difficult to see Lyon not pulling-off the victory in the end; A 1-0 Lyon win. Let’s pray.

P.S. I should be in Lyon for the Rennes match next Sunday. If any of you readers are in Lyon and/or going to be at the match, let me know. I would appreciate some info on buying tickets and other stuff, as well a meeting-up with you.

Goals: Lyon (Pjanic 3, Govou 14, Lisandro 80, Lisandro pen 83, Bastos 90); Marseille (Diawara 11, Cheyrou 43, Kone 47, Brandao 79, Toulalan og 92)
Sanctions: Lyon (Makoun 20, Cris 54, Lisandro 86); Marseille (Niang 74, Diawara 87)

No words can adequately describe what will for sure end up being the match of the year. Both OL and OM will rue giving away stupid goals (Gabriel Heinze gave away a penalty while Jeremy Toulalan scored an own goal). If you want to read a really good recap, you can read the official version from the LFP. But I really recommend you download the match itself and watch it from start to finish (not a single boring moment, I promise you that!). For download links, see the last comment on this post. To tide you over until then, there are some extended highlights after the jump (I was also going to post photos, but the OL website has a great selection of them, so head over there and check it out).

P.S.: Toulalan must be so traumatized. After all his desperation to score a goal, when he finally does, it’s an own goal in stoppage time that snatches a much needed victory from Lyon. But that’s okay because I – and I’m sure the rest of you do too – love him anyway. *squishes Jeremy*

Sunday evening it’s back to work. But hopefully, it’s not one of those usual Monday morning, sloping, sluggish, I need a liter of coffee to get through the day, back to works, because aside from the heart wrenching matches against Cesspool in the CL, Lyon have been afflicted with a general malaise probably since week eight in the PSG match, and need this victory to put some pep back in their step.

Lyon have had a near perfect run in the CL so far, but our league form as of late, leaves alot to be desired. Aside from some bright spots in victories against Toulouse and Lens, OL have been downright somnambulant, pretty much in their last three league matches if not more, seemingly sleepwalking through the league and waking up with some nasty injuries along the way- Sochaux and Nice in particular, inflicting some deep bruises.

No hand-holding this week: That led to a 0-0 draw last time!

Sunday, Marseille come to Gerland, fresh off their midweek 6-1 trouncing of FC Zurich in the CL. Despite this sucess, they are pretty much done in the CL, needing two sucessive vitories against two giants of the football world, Real Madrid and AC Milan, in order to progress to the round of sixteen. So in other words, their attention should be fully turned back to and honed on league success.

For me, this is the team that OL can’t lose to. I don’t care so much about the Derby or Bordeaux, but L’OM can’t be allowed a victory. I think it’s Ben Arfa that’s caused a viceral hatred in me for L’OM…I dunno.

Regardless, both teams have been rather flat in league play lately, and this match may be pivotal in the sense that it may jolt one of them back on track: Lyon are just two points off of league-leaders Bordeaux, while Marseille are seven points off the lead, and look to keep from slipping any further in the table.

HISTORY: Sunday’s clash at Gerland will be the 39th affair between the two clubs. In those meetings, OL holds the advantage with a 16-17-6 record. Apart from Les Marseillais’ last victories in November of 2007 and April of 2004, you would have to go back twelve years to find the last OM victory. Aside from a few exeptions, the matches between these two are generally low scoring affairs and decided by a point or less.

Marseille’s Form: After a summer filled with big signings of talented players- which assured them tons of depth at every position- and the acquisition of coach Didier Deschamps, L’OM had put fear into most of the top teams in L1, but halfway through the season, Marseille suprisingly sit in eight place in the tables. They are 5-3-2 with (19) points, that’s eight from the top, but do have a one point goal differential lead on OL with (+7). Their anihilation of Zurich aside, L’OM have been had a similar run to OL, with two wins in their last five matches.

Les Phoceens have the fourth ranked offense with (17) scored- tied with Lyon- and are also ranked fourth in defense with (10) goals allowed. For today’s purposes, OM are ranked 3rd away from home- right behind L’OL- with a 3-1-1 record on the road. Lyon are ranked 5th at home with a 4-0-1 record.

Offensively, Mamadou Niang (6) and Brandão with (4) league goals are their danger men.

Again, despite a slew of summer signings, L’OM’s achilles heal continues to be the defensive line. The front of goal seems to be an open highway to opposing teams as of late, as Deschamps struggles to find the right defensive combination. Seven of the last ten goals allowed have come in the last five matches.

Injuries: Cleber and Bodmer; while Clerc and Reveillere are out with knee injuires, leaving the toddler Lamine Gassama to possibly be molested by that bad man Mamadou Niang, probably a repeat-in-the-waiting of what happened to the poor boy in the CL, when he was mauled by Franck Ribery.

The other kiddies, Faure and Seguin are still out, leaving Toulalan to play through his groin injury.

Some great news: Boumsong is finally fit, and will join the squad. This is fantastic news, although he’s weeks away from getting-up to speed, because I was starting to worry that Puel might have to start putting Makoun, Kallstrom or some of the fowards in the CB role during practice. It looked like it might be coming to that; maybe Lisandro back there before they decided to buy a CB on the medical joker option, or switching to a 3-5-2.

As aformentioned, Toulalan is a having some slight groin problems but will start. Gomis sustained a slight knock during the week against Loserpool and is questionable but still in the squad, same goes for Pjanic who also took a knock vs. Cesspool and experienced some muscular soreness during the week, but is also included in the group.

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

Formation:

Lloris
Gassama-Cris -Toulalan-Cissokho
Ederson-Makoun-Kallstrom
Bastos-Lisandro-Govou

P.S. Please post your links as soon as you find a good one.

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

Goals: Nice (Bagayoko 17, Cissokho o.g. 40, Hellebuyck 69, Remy 74), Lyon (Ederson 84).
Warnings: Nice (Coulibaly 5), Lyon (Cissokho 21, Gonalons 53, Reveillere 77)

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: