Anyway, today Lyon play the first of their two back to back matches against Lyon’s satellite club Lille. Since we’re already out of the Coupe de la Ligue, have a real race for the championship, and are major underdogs for even progressing to the next round in the Champions League…well, it would be very unwise of Lyon to turn their noses up at this chance of silverware.

March 4, 2009
Stadium Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d’Ascq
2:45 PM (20:45 CET, 19:45 GMT)

Background info:

Lyon and Lille seem to play each other all the time – league games, cup games, friendlies…I bet they even have Football Manager tournaments against each other. Even in the off season, there always seems to be something brewing between the two clubs. Oh, and did I mention that Lille’s president is the brother of Lyon’s primary shareholder?

Since we’re so familiar with all their players, I’m not going to bother going through them again. Instead, I’ll cut straight to the stats. Right now, Lille are in 7th place and still very much in the running for a place in Europe next year. They’re doing better than everyone expected (I mean, they did lose their best players, their coach, and even their club doctor last summer!), and that is in great part to the management of Rudy Garcia. They have 11 wins, 10 draws, and 5 losses, with 36 goals scored and 28 conceded. Their two highest scorers are Michel Bastos and Ludovic Obraniak, with nine goals apiece (here is a depressing fact – those two combined have scored more goals than Lyon’s top two scorers, Karim Benzema and Juninho - and neither will be playing today).

Yes, you read that right. So far, Lille have scored the same amount of goals as Lyon. That’s a far cry from last season, when Lille were one of the least prolific teams ever. But they’ve also leaked a lot more goals than Lyon, so hopefully this is something that Puel will take advantage of.

Lyon info:

It is a much depleted squad that travels to Lille. Karim Benzema joins Fabio Santos, Sidney Govou, Anthony Reveillere, and Francois Clerc on the sidelines. Jeremy Toulalan is suspended (what good timing!) while Juninho has been left at rest.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre, Hartock – Mensah, Gassama, Cris, Boumsong, Grosso, Kolodziejczak – Makoun, Ederson, Pied, Pjanic, Källström, Bodmer – Keita, Piquionne, Mounier, Tafer, Delgado.

But look at who is on the list. Cesar Delgado returns…and so does Mathieu Bodmer!!! Thimothee Kolodziejczak, Yannis Tafer, and Jeremy Pied also make their returns to the senior team.

Expected lineup:

One good thing about Puel is that he uses cup matches to try out different players and formations. While I don’t expect to see anything revolutionary, there will at least be some variety. We do know that Hugo Lloris will be starting from the bench.

Vercoutre
Gassama – Cris – Mensah – Grosso
Makoun – Kallstrom
Pjanic – Delgado – Mounier
Piquionne

It seems likely that Lamine Gassama will start at right back. I doubt Thimothee Kolodziejczak will start on the left simply because Lille has very speedy attackers, and Lyon being molested on both flanks would be counterproductive. In the center, Puel might chose to drop either Cris or Jean-Alain Boumsong to give John Mensah some much needed time in the middle of defense (he is a central defender, after all). I’ll be really pissed if I see Mathieu Bodmer back there.

In the middle, Jean II Makoun is sure to start, as is Kim Kallstrom. I’d love to see Bodmer start as well, but this is his first competitive game in months, so it might be better to bring him on in the second half.

Up front, Frederic Piquionne will get a start, though hopefully Yannis Tafer will come on for him later. Behind him, it’s most probable that Miralem Pjanic and Anthony Mounier will get some much needed game time, as will Cesar Delgado, who is returning from injury.

Viewing options:

Cross your fingers that there will be a good stream. You can also follow on liveblog – I recommend either Football365.fr or l’Equipe.

Expected result:

Break’s over, now it’s time for a win. 2-1 for Lyon.

Today, Marseille come to Le Stade Gerland to take on Lyon in the Round of 16 of Le Coupe de France,with neither team looking for anything less than a victory. Both teams will be fielding their best available squads. Let’s hope this match will be the complete opposite of what we saw in the last meeting between these two sides in regular league play on December 14th, a (0-0) draw which would’ve put an insomniac to sleep. In fact, the only thing I enjoyed about that match was the Lyon boys giving HBA a good welcome-home thrashing, physically knocking any potential effectiveness right out of him, probably causing Gerets to pull him in the second half. Let’s hope Lyon can continue their current three-game scoring streak that began with Lorient and continued this weekend(six goals vs. division five team Concarneau)- hey, I’ll take it!- in which we’ve seen scoring by players with names other than Karim; an occurence of monumental importance in my opinion.

History: In Overall cup play, Marseille have won the cup (10) times while Lyon have hoisted the trophy (4) times. In the meetings between the two teams in cup play, Marseille have won the last (5) meetings between the two teams, with the last two matches being very closely constensted with a (1-2) loss at Gerland in ‘06 and again a (2-1) loss at the Velodrome in ‘07.

Le groupe Lyonnais:
Lloris, Vercoutre – Grosso, Boumsong, Cris, Faure – Toulalan, Makoun, Källström, Fabio Santos – Pjanic, Juninho, Delgado, Keita, Mounier – Tafer, Piquionne, Benzema.

Injuries: The usuals: Clerc, Reveillere, Mensah, Bodmer, and Gouvou are out. Ederson can be added to the list now, at least for this match, as he has reaggrevated that ankle injury he sustained in the CL I believe it was, and I think he’s still getting over that flu he’s been suffering from for the past week or so.

Lineup: The best are out on the pitch. I’ll go with this.

Lloris
F.Santos-Cris-Boumsong-Grosso
Juninho-Toulalan
Keita-Delgado-Kallstrom
Benzema

I think that Gassama has been sent to the CFAs- no word on any injury- and Fabio Santos gets to start at RB. I think Makoun might be seeing more bench time, as Puel has seen that Kallstrom’s creativity has given the squad some needed offensive push. I still don’t like Delgado at the 10, he needs to be on the wings were he shinned against Grenoble(didn’t see Concarneau). So we’ll see if Puel’s starting 11 looks anything like this.

January 24th, 2008 (postponed from January 3rd)
Stade du Roudourou, Guingamp
9 AM ET (15:00 CET, 14:00 GMT)

Not much has changed except the composition of the squad. Not only are John Mensah and Sidney Govou out, but Juninho, Ederson, and Kim Kallstrom will be joining Anthony Reveillere, Francois Clerc, and Mathieu Bodmer in the hospital ward.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Grosso, Boumsong, Cris, Gassama, Faure – Toulalan, Makoun, Pied, Fabio Santos – Pjanic, Delgado, Keita, Mounier – Tafer, Piquionne, Benzema.

Sebastien Faure, Yannis Tafer, and Jeremy Pied will be joining Lamine Gassama on the senior team this weekend, though only Gassama looks likely to get playing time. The good news is that Fabio Santos is back on the squad – let’s hope he stays healthy from now on. I’ve never seen a guy so unlucky with accidental injuries.

Oh, and Fred has been left behind. Again. Ha, take that!

If Lyon beat Concarneau (they better), then they will go on to play Marseille in the round of 16 next Wednesday. As you can guess, Eric Gerets is already sharpening his knives. So let’s cross our fingers and hope Lyon continue to build on their performance against Grenoble last week. They’re still a long way from peak form (or even average form, if you ask me).

You can find match links here.

Here’s a recap, for both me and you.

1. The nitty gritty on Lyon’s postponed French Cup match:

The match against Concarneau, which was supposed to have taken place on January 3rd, was postponed due to the frozen state of the pitch at Guingamp (where the match was supposed to be held). Concarneau, used to playing in such conditions, were upset at the cancellation because of the money and effort already expended. But the referee decided it was too risky to the health of the players.

Even more drama erupted when it was discovered that the French Cup, under the jurisprudence of the FFF, would follow standard protocol (Article 6.7, to be specific) and reschedule the match during an open midweek slot. Concarneau argued that as an amateur team, they had “day jobs” that take place during the week, and most of the families and supporters also had work, so the only time that would be fair would be during a weekend.

Unsurprisingly, due to the extensive lobbying by Concarneau and the silent support of every other club in France, the FFF decided to accommodate Concarneau by rescheduling the match to Saturday, January 24th.

Pule wasn’t too happy because, assuming Lyon beat Concarneau (and this could be doubtful based on OL’s current form), they have to play Marseille in the next French Cup round four days later, and four days after that, they have a derby against St. Etienne.

Lyon launched an official statement pointing out that by law, postponed French Cup games are supposed to be rescheduled to the midweek. They also said that they regretted that the city of Guingamp, who are responsible for maintaining their stadium, did such an inadequate job of it. Lyon also said that since the new timetable will not allow Lyon to meet the organization security guidelines required for the French Cup, they expect the FFF to take full responsibility for any incidents that might occur (something usually left to the two clubs).

2. Transfers, or lack thereof.

This has got to be one of the most boring transfer windows ever. There is so little happening that the press is just making stuff up. Like the rumors of Patrick Vieira’s arrival. Ha. That Lyon might swoop for Simone Perrota. Or that Julien Faubert is being tracked by Lyon. Because that’s what we need, more old, injured, and useless midfielders.

Up front, both Fluminense and Tottenham have been tentatively sounding out transfer possibilities for Fred, with the price around €5m. Fred has apparently turned down Fluminense and will probably also refuse Tottenham because in a few months, he’ll be a free agent. The bastard. Portsmouth is once again “interested” in Sidney Govou, and Govou is once again “considering” his options. Sadly, there have been no requests for Kader Keita.

Lyon most desperately need defensive recruits, but that’s where the rumors are the stingiest. Rod Fanni claims that Lyon tried to sign him this winter, but he thinks it’s too early to leave Rennes, especially since a winter transfer can be more difficult. If the press is to be believed, Lyon are “this” close to signing Charles N’Zogbia, a LB/LW from Newcastle. Or, if you read other sources, Lyon are about to signing Kleber, a LB/LW from Santos. Gee, I thought the problem was on the right?

3. Benzibye?

Karim Benzema gets his own little blurb. In an interview today, he says that his future at Lyon is in doubt. While he wants to stay at the club, he also doesn’t want to keep getting kicked out in the Round of 16 in the Champions League. So whether or not he stays until 2010 depends in large part on how Lyon fare against Barcelona. So we might as well say goodbye now.

The vultures are already circling, with Barcelona themselves apparently preparing a €65m bid. Manchester United are also keeping tabs on the situation, and in the event that Carlos Tevez leaves, something that’s looking increasingly likely, they too will go after one of Fergie’s favorite young players.

Just….ugh.

4. Lyon’s overall suckitude and the resurgence of the title race.

It looks like the winter break didn’t do Lyon any good since they started the second half of their season with as much mediocrity as they ended the first. They tied 1-1 with Lorient, which as most of you know is a huge powerhouse in French football. Ederson managed the only OL goal, Fabrice Aubriel scored the other, and that’s it for any high points in the game.

I didn’t watch this game, but in hindsight, I didn’t need to because I’ve seen Lyon play a dozen like it since the season started. And yet teams like Bordeaux and Marseille are in better form than ever, not only scoring goals but also keeping them out. As things stand, Lyon are only one point ahead of second placed Bordeaux, who are now so confident that they believe they can win the title. Other clubs are also sounding out, some saying that Lyon’s time is over, with the team getting progressively weaker and becoming vulnerable because of their dependence on individual talents. All this is true, I’m sad to say.

No comments in the Lyon camp, except from Govou, who says that there is no unity amongst the players. Is it just me, or is that always the issue with Lyon?

5. At least the Ladies show some signs of ambition.

OL Féminines are on course to being the Chelsea of women’s soccer. They are buying up talent that they don’t really need and have such a surplus of talented players that they could line up two competitve teams. Their newest recruit is Ingvild Stensland of Norway, who wanted to leave Goteborg (Lotta Schelin’s old team) for new pastures. She also had offers in Germany, Norway, England, and from the WPS, but she turned them down in favor of Lyon. It’s a mystery to me because she’s a DM, and Lyon already have two internationals in that position.

But Stensland comes with a shining resume, having been named Norway’s Player of the Year last season, and having been among the nominees for FIFA’s Player of the Year for the last several seasons. She also has 50 caps with Norway and will be reuniting with Bente Norby at OL. Stensland is Lyon’s sixth fully professional player.

Lara Dickenmann, a Swiss international and OSU All-American, who was signed last summer, just finished her last semester at college and has finally arrived. She’s a striker, so Lyon’s arsenal is seriously jacked now. I’m not sure if there will be anymore transfers, but with OL Féminines having so much more money than their competitors, it looks like the only constraint is how many lockers are available. At any rate, Aulas wants to stave off the influence of the WPS in Lyon and has promised to offer new contracts (most likely professional ones) for some of the other girls who are currently only semi-professionals.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back once more information is available.

Let’s hope that Lyon’s New Years resolution is that they’ll stop fucking around and start taking the “little” teams seriously. They’ve already lost all chances of reclaiming the Coupe de la Ligue thanks to an embarrassing loss to second division Metz, and it’s no secret that Lyon have lost quite a few points to smaller clubs in the league. Tomorrow’s opponents may be a fifth division team, but weirder upsets have happened.

January 3rd, 2008
Stade du Roudourou, Guingamp
3 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

Match Background:

US Concarneau play in France’s fifth division, in the Championnat de France Amateurs 2. The CFA2 is comprised of amateur clubs and the reserve teams of clubs in higher divisions. Concarneau is an amateur club that have never made the jump to a professional outfit. In the Coupe de France, the tradition is that the lower team plays at home, which for Concarneau is the Stade Kerampéru, but the venue was deemed too small for such a high profile visiting team, not to mention the multitude of security and press issues. Lyon offered to switch the game to the Gerland, but Concarneau refused. Instead, the game will be held at the nearby Stade du Roudourou at Guingamp, which has over double the capacity of the Kerampéru.

For Concarneau, this is the biggest game of the season for them and probably one of the biggest games in the history of their club. Their players are going into the match with no expectations but to enjoy themselves. But there is a certain magic to cup matches, and Concarneau will be hoping that they can take advantage if Lyon slip up.

Lyon may be playing against lambs, so to speak, but they are under pressure to play convincingly well. Which means that they need to score more than one goal while also not conceding stupid ones. Puel and his players have a tough second half of the season coming up with Champions League against Barca as well as a dwindling lead in Ligue 1.

Lyon Info:

Thankfully there are no new injuries to report, though that’s always a concern when players are off doing who knows what over the winter holidays. Miralem Pjanic makes a welcome return to the bench, and Mathieu Bodmer and Francois Clerc are back in light training, though they are still weeks away from competitive playing. Only Anthony Reveillere remains in serious recovery.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre, Hartock – Gassama, Kolo, Mensah, Cris, Boumsong, Faure, Grosso – Toulalan, Makoun, Källström, Juninho, Ederson – Mounier, Govou, Keita, Pjanic, Delgado, Benzema, Fred, Piquionne, Tafer.

Puel isn’t taking any chances with Concarneau and will not put a reserve team out against them though it may not be the strongest lineup that starts tomorrow. Joan Hartock and Yannis Tafer will be joining the senior team (though they normally remain with the CFA). One glaring omission is Fabio Santos, who showed up for training several days late and is now being punished by being left out of a nearly full strength Lyon squad.

Expected Lineup:

Vercoutre
Mensah – Cris – Boumsong – Grosso
Makoun – Kallstron
Ederson
Keita – Benzema – Delgado

I totally made up the above lineup. Defensively, the options are a lot more limited, and Puel may either continue using John Mensah out of position on the left, or give Lamine Gassama (and Timothée Kolodziejczak) a chance to accumulate more experience. In midfield, Puel may choose to use only one DM – two seem rather excessive against Concarneau. As for the arrangement up front, Lyon have so many attacking options available that it seems pointless to try to guess what Puel will put out tomorrow.

Viewing Options:

You can check here for streams, and you can also find a liveblog (in French) here.

Expected Result:

Is a 2-0 too much to ask?

I say that because yesterday’s game turned out to be the match from hell, and for all the wrong reasons. In one of the biggest upsets in the history of this tournament (and probably in the history of Lyon), Metz walked all over Lyon in a fairly comfortable 3-1 victory.

What follows is my post match tirade commentary. If there ever were a time for justified bitching, I think this would be it. Match highlights at the bottom of the post. Try not to laugh too hard.

First of all, it was a home game for Lyon. In the last three years, Lyon have lost at home only four times in all competitions – to Bordeaux, Marseille, Roma, and Rangers. That’s it. And those teams are hardly chumps. Amazing that the list can now include a team that’s currently hanging out in France’s second division.

Secondly, rotation aside, the lineup Puel put out last night shouldn’t have lost like that. Besides Sebastien Faure and Lamine Gassama, the other nine players are all very experienced, many of them internationals to boot. Sure, Lyon were resting Hugo Lloris, Jeremy Toulalan, Karim Benzema, and Cesar Delgado, plus some other players to injury, but still…it’s Metz, not Barcelona.

I suppose in the grand scheme of things, the Coupe de la Ligue was the lowest priority of the club, so by the end of the year, I doubt too many people will be shedding tears over this game. But the fact that Lyon was kicked out in such a fashion and in such an early stage of the competition makes it a little hard to bear. It’s also a little scary that this is the second trophy Claude Puel has missed out on – he was also the first OL coach to lose the Trophee des Champions since 2001. It’s not a big deal, I know, but I hope this isn’t some sort of ominous sign of impending change.

This picture says it all, really.

As for the players themselves, they were all really mediocre. I’m not even being harsh. If I had to give them ratings, the highest would probably be a 5. I’m not sure why the players had such a meltdown of epic proportions. Juninho was probably the best of the bunch, and he tried, but there is only so much he could do with the incompetence around him. Fabio Grosso picked the wrong day to forget his defensive duties. Cris fluctuated between good and bad. I don’t know if he was nervous playing next to the babies Faure and Gassama, or if he was revisiting his form from the earlier part of the season, though I will say that he made up for it during some moments and was responsible for Lyon’s only goal of the match. Kim Kallstrom, Ederson, Frederic Piquionne, Kader Keita, Anthony Mounier, Fred, and Jean II Makoun all had a match to forget.

And OMG, Fabio Santos was injured AGAIN. He has the worst luck ever. After receiving a nasty tackle from Metz’s Pascal Johansen, he was in so much pain that he had to be taken off immediately. Apparently it’s an ankle sprain, which means he might be out for another couple of weeks. I hope it’s not too long because he is a good player and deserves to play. It would be terrible if injuries ruin his career – which is ironic because despite all the injuries, he’s not injury prone, but he gets injured by other players on a fairly regular basis.

Jean-Michel Aulas was very pissed in his post match interview, saying that it was really annoying when high caliber players, who are fighting for playing time, decide to waste the opportunity instead of proving to the coach that they deserve a place in the starting XI. He also put additional pressure on the players by reminding them that great teams never lose twice. Puel on the other hand gave full credit to Metz for a deserved victory, and by the look on his face, it was obvious that he plans to put his players through hell for their performance today. I kind of feel sorry for Bordeaux, who are Lyon’s next opponents.

Finally, I want to end this with a word of congratulations for Metz. While Lyon were so wrapped up in their certainty of success (everyone down from Aulas to the ballboys), Metz came to the Gerland with an appropriate mixture of determination of humility. They knew they couldn’t match Lyon player for player, so they worked harder and pitched a very intelligent battle of tactics. They knew which players to shut down and which players to exploit. Before the match, I had never heard of Victor Mendy, Sebastien Renouard, and Romain Rocchi (Metz’s three goal scorers), but I won’t forget them ever again. So bravo to Metz, and I hope they continue their good run into this competition.

Highlights:

Goals: Lyon (Cris 49), Metz (Mendy 20, Renouard 28, Rocchi 66)
Warnings: Lyon (Faure 58, Gassama 59), Metz (Johansen 31, Delgado 85)

Also, Evilo is now piloting the Ligue 1 Prospects Blog at the Offside, so stop by to say hi. Given that L1 is a breeding ground of some of the world’s best players, his blog is most welcome for those who want to keep track of France’s latest talents.

Just to clarify for those who aren’t familiar with French football, the Coupe de la Ligue is one of two domestic cup competitions in France. The CdL is for professional clubs and only features those that participate in the top two divisions of French football, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. As champions, Lyon get a bye from the first round of the competition and go straight to the round of 16 (as does Bordeaux, the runners up). The other competition, the Coupe de France, is open to all clubs in France, both amateur and professional. All clubs start the Round of 32 in the Cdf.

November 11, 2008
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

Match background:

Metz, who we all remember from last year, are currently plying their trade in Ligue 2 this year because they failed to stay up in the topflight last season (they ended last year in 20th place…). But as teams go, they aren’t pansies and will be spoiling for a fight tomorrow.

My familiarity with L2 teams is not the greatest, so I can’t speak with any certainty about their current squad except to repeat some stats: their top scorer is Demba Cisse with four goals, followed by Romain Rocchi with three. Christophe Marichez, their goalkeeper, has ensured that Metz have the second best defense in their division.

Oh, did I mention that they are the team that gave us Miralem Pjanic? Thanks, Metz!

Metz are currently in 4th place on the L2 table, having scored 14 goals and conceded 8. While their attack is not the most prolific, their defense is very respectable, even though they are in a lower division.

On the Lyon side of things, Claude Puel made it very clear that he is taking this competition seriously. Thanks to Alain Perrin, who raised the standard (it pains me to say it, but credit should be given where it’s due), anything less than a double this year (or strong advancement in the Champions League) will be a failure for Puel.

Keep in mind that two seasons ago, Lyon were this close to clinching the cup, but thanks to a Remy Vercoutre blunder that gifted Bordeaux with a last gasp goal, all Lyon can say for themselves is that they were finalists. It’s also important to note that the last time Lyon won the Coupe de la Ligue was back in 2001. It’s considered to be the trophy that started Lyon’s dominance in French football.

In other CdL matches, Bordeaux have a pretty straightforward game against Guingamp. Sochaux will have it tough against Lens, and Wednesday’s matches feature top flight teams facing off against each other, with PSG taking on Nancy and Le Havre taking on Rennes. As for Marseille, they will be facing…no one! They never made it past the last round. Hehe.

Interesting facts: Juninho has never scored in this competition, but Sidney Govou has scored five, making him Lyon’s top scorer in the Coupe de la Ligue. Of the current squad, besides Govou, Karim Benzema, Kader Keita, and Mathieu Bodmer have one goal each in this competition. Govou is also the only player who won the CdL with OL back in 2001 that’s still on the team, though Remy Vercoutre won the cup when he was on loan at Strasbourg in 2005.

Claude Puel was the manager of the Monaco team that lost to Lyon in the 2001 CdL final. Ouch.

Lyon info:

It’s a very depleted Lyon squad that will be available for tomorrow’s game, partially due to injuries and partially due to the Puel’s decision. Of course Miralem Pjanic and Francois Clerc are out, and so is John Mensah and Mathieu Bodmer unfortunately.

Puel has also decided to rest Jeremy Toulalan, Hugo Lloris, Cesar Delgado, and Karim Benzema. So they will not be on the bench tomorrow night. Which is great because even if Lyon are losing tomorrow, Puel can’t ask them to play because otherwise he’d be forced to.

Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre, Hartock – Grosso, Boumsong, Cris, Faure, Réveillère, Gassama – Fabio Santos, Källström, Makoun – Juninho, Govou, Ederson, Mounier, Keita, Fred, Piquionne.

Juninho and Kader Keita, who were both rested during last weekend’s game against Monaco, make their return to the team. Sebastien Faure and Lamine Gassama also make the bench, but unfortunately, Thimothée Kolodzieczak doesn’t.

Expected lineup:

We know two things from Puel’s pre-match press conference. One, that Remy Vercoutre will start in goal (which was kind of obvious due to Hugo Lloris not being called up), and that two, Fabio Santos will also be starting (YAYYYY).

Vercoutre
Gassama – Cris – Boumsong – Grosso
Juninho – Fabio Santos – Kallstrom
Govou – Piquionne – Mounier

I’m praying, PRAYING, that Anthony Reveillere gets a rest. He’s played nearly every single minute of every single game so far this season. And it’s going to be awhile before Francois Clerc comes back, so Reveillere has to be kept fresh. Lamine Gassama has looked decent in his last two Lyon outings, so he should be able to manage against Metz. Unfortunately for Lyon, the remaining three at the back have no choice but to play.

In midfield, with Fabio Santos starting for sure, Puel should keep Jean II Makoun on the bench. It’s Metz, surely Lyon don’t need two DMs. Kim Kallstrom will be looking to have another great game, and Juninho will want to get some game time into his legs. If he doesn’t start, then Ederson will probably take his place.

Up front, Frederic Piquionne hasn’t played in awhile and surely deserves some minutes. It’s possible Puel might up to play him together with Fred, though it doesn’t seem likely. Anthony Mounier hasn’t played in awhile either, and Sidney Govou needs time since he is still rusty from his long injury layoff. Instead of Mounier, Puel may opt to give Kader Keita, who didn’t play against Monaco, some time on the pitch.

Viewing options:

This match will be broadcast in France on France 3, a free television channel (I think). So hopefully there will be some streams for this match. If you are in France, or have a proxy server to give you a French IP, you can watch it for free online. Otherwise, check out this page for links.

Expected results:

I’m hoping for a solid 2-0 win. I would love more goals, but I’m afraid to hope.

August 2, 2008
Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
12 PM Eastern Time (18:00 CET, 17:00 GMT)

Normally, the Trophée des Champions is held between the winners of the league and the Coupe de France, but since Lyon won both, the LFP decided that instead of not holding the competition this year, they would make the game between Lyon and Bordeaux, who were runners up in the league.

While this match is technically a friendly that gets you a pointless trophy, the Trophée des Champions has been a good luck charm for the club. Lyon have won the last six supercups, and each of those wins capped off a title winning season, so they will be hoping for a retreat. Bordeaux on the other hand have never won the Trophée des Champions, though they were runners up back in 1999.

I personally don’t think that playing Bordeaux right before the season starts is a very good idea. Friendly or not, both teams will be hoping for a win. With Bordeaux posing the biggest title threat, a win here would be a nice self-confidence boost.

Bordeaux were a dangerous team last season, and this summer, they’ve added more quality to their roster, with Yoan Gouffran and Yoann Gourcuff the most notable additions. They’ve got a whole host of other talents, especially that Argentine guy you might have heard of – Fernando Cavenaghi, anyone? Their goalkeeper, Ulrich Rame, is one of the better ones in the league. Check out what Jennifer over at the Bordeaux Offside has to say about this match.

Since the match will be held in Bordeaux this year, Lyon are at a disadvantage – their head to head record isn’t the most inspiring. Still, I’d like to hope that Lyon will be going to Bordeaux with all guns blazing. While Juninho doesn’t think this match is a big deal, losing is always annoying, especially to a rival.

Allez Lyon!

Lyon info:

The season hasn’t even started, and I already have a whole host of injuries to report. Fabio Santos will be out long term with a broken cheekbone. Kader Keita’s arm still needs another two weeks or so to heal while Ederson is nursing muscle pain in his thigh, but he should be ready for the game against Toulouse. John Mensah is out with problems to his calf. Fred is still recovering from the tendinitis in his knee, so he can’t play either. The bastard.

Anthony Mounier, who is otherwise physically fit, can’t take part in this match because he’s still being sanctioned for being rude to the referee during a CFA game against Croix-de-Savoie last season. Apparently, his punishment is that he can’t play until Croix-de-Savoie’s season starts, and since they haven’t started yet, Mounier has to miss out on a game where he probably would have gotten some much needed minutes. As for Frederic Piquionne, he can’t play yet since his registration to Lyon wasn’t approved in time for this match.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Boumsong, Clerc, Cris, Reveillere, Grosso, Faure – Bodmer, Kallstrom, Juninho, Makoun, Toulalan, Pjanic – Baros, Benzema, Delgado, Govou, Pied, Tafer

To compensate for the absences, Puel has called up a bunch of youth players. Yannis Tafer’s inclusion is no surprise – he’s been one of the best Lyonnais in the pre-season. I’m a little more puzzled by Jeremy Pied’s presence since I’m not sure exactly what he’s doing on the list. But the weirdest of all is Sebastien Faure over Sandy Paillot. At least Paillot has some experience – Faure hasn’t even played for the CFAs yet. But what do I know, right?

Expected Lineup:

Umm. I’m not sure what to say about this. Puel’s been using all sorts of players for the friendlies so far, and since he used eleven subs per game, it’s also hard to tell what starting XI he’s thinking of. But we do know two things. First, Hugo Lloris will be in goal. Second, Fabio Grosso will be LB (duh, he’s the only one we have). So that’s two players out of eleven. Not bad.

Lloris
Clerc – Cris – Boumsong – Grosso
Toulalan – Makoun
Govou – Juninho – Delgado
Benzema

As always, it’s a tossup between Francois Clerc and Anthony Reveillere. Due to the messy situation regarding the friendlies, with internationals arriving at a later date, it’s also hard to tell which RB Puel prefers, but I’m going to pick Clerc. In the middle, Cris should be one of the CBs, and the other should logically be Jean-Alain Boumsong. But I’m hesitating because against Monaco, Puel chose to start Mathieu Bodmer next to Cris instead of Boumsong (though later Boumsong replaced Bodmer…). At any rate, I hope it’s Boumsong. He’s a good player who has proved me wrong since coming to Lyon.

In midfield, I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing the Jeremy Toulalan – Jean II Makoun partnership. Normally, I disapprove of anything involving two DMs, but Makoun plays a more offensive role, and against Monaco, I was very pleased at how the two distributed midfield duties. Also going by what Puel has been doing in the pre-season, we’ll probably see a player play in the hole behind the striker. At the moment, Juninho seems to be the player of choice though I personally think Miralem Pjanic is a better option in that position. But I doubt Puel will bench his captain in the first game of the season.

With Kader Keita out, it looks like Sidney Govou will be starting on the right wing. Govou is actually a good luck charm – with four goals, he’s the all time highest leading goalscorer for OL in the Trophée des Champions. On the left, we should be seeing Cesar Delgado. It’s interesting because last season, he hardly played at all, and now he may nab a starting spot. Up front, Karim Benzema will most likely start unless Puel wants to be nice to Milan Baros (unlikely).

Viewing options:

Unfortunately, soccers.fr has been asked by the LFP to stop providing links to games, so we will have to almost exclusively rely on this website for streams. Hopefully a good one will appear for tomorrow. Or else I will cry.

Edit: Jennifer may liveblog this game. Check here in the morning for a link.

Expected result:

I’m rather nervous about this game. Bordeaux have the advantage because they’ve been training together as a team a lot longer while Lyon are still disorganized from their recruitment and their pre-season preparations. I’d predict a draw, but in the Trophée des Champions, that would lead to penalties. I think Bordeaux might actually win this one, though of course I hope that’s not the case. I’ll guess Bordeaux 1- 0 Lyon.

“Le Trophée des champions aux Etats-Unis” – Le Progres, June 1st, 2008
La LFP souhaite organiser le Trophée des champions 2008 aux Etats-Unis. Prévu fin juillet, il mettra aux prises l’OL, auteur du doublé, à Bordeaux, son dauphin.

The French Supercup is the current raiser for the rest of the season. It’s normally held between the winners of the league and the winners of the French Cup, but since Lyon won both, the Supercup will be held between Lyon and Bordeaux.

On the surface, it’s a worthless trophy, but Lyon have always won it before starting their title winning seasons. It’s become a symbol of luck, and it gets the players in the right mindset for the rest of the year. But unlike other seasons, Bordeaux aren’t pushovers and will be hoping to take some of that luck for themselves.

This is an important game, so I can understand why the French Football Federation wants to do something special for the occasion. But holding it in the US is not the answer.

Look, I would LOVE for Lyon to come here. No matter what city the FFF ultimately chose (and this is a big country), I would be there. But I’d be one of the only people there. After all, Lyon doesn’t have many American fans, and Bordeaux has even fewer. It’d be one thing if Lyon played in some friendlies with MLS teams (and even then, I suspect most Americans wouldn’t care), but two French teams playing each other on American soil is pointless.

Better that the game be held in France, where they will actually have an audience.

I imagine the traditional trip to Tignes will occur at the beginning of July, and perhaps there will be some friendlies thrown in towards the end. I’ll be sure to post that information as soon as it’s released. Also, the date of the Trophée des Champions has not been released. The game will feature Lyon and Bordeaux.

In the list below, I’ve included not just the dates for the league matches, but also all the dates for the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, and Champions League. Naturally Lyon will win all those games and bring home that quadruple. Duh. Also included are the relevant international fixtures that take place before the 2008-2009 season officially starts. So there will be lots of footy to keep you guys occupied for the next 365 days.

See the full list after the jump.

Pre-Season

05/24/08 – Switzerland vs. Slovakia – Friendly @ Lugano

05/26/08 – Sweden vs. Slovakia – Friendly @ Gothenburg

05/27/08 – Czech Republic vs. Lithuania @ Prague; France vs. Ecuador @ Grenoble

05/30/08 – Al Shabab vs. Lyon – Friendly @ Dubai; Italy vs. Belgium – Friendly @ Florence

05/31/08 – France vs. Paraguay - Friendly @ Toulouse

06/01/08 – Côte d’Ivoire vs. Mozambique – FIFA World Cup Qualifier @ Abidjan

06/03/08 – France vs. Columbia – Friendly @ Paris

06/07/08 - Switzerland vs. Czech Republic – Euro 2008 @Basel

06/08/08 – Madagascar vs. Côte d’Ivoire – FIFA World Cup Qualifier @ Antananarivo

06/09/08 – Netherlands vs. Italy – Euro 2008 @ Berne; Romania vs. France – Euro 2008 @ Zurich

06/10/08 – Greece vs. Sweden – Euro 2008 @ Salzburg

06/11/08 – Czech Republic vs. Portugal – Euro 2008 @ Geneva; Switzerland vs. Turkey – Euro 2008 @ Basel

06/13/08 – Italy vs. Romania – Euro 2008 @ Zurich; Netherlands vs. France – Euro 2008 @ Berne

06/14/08 – Sweden vs. Spain – Euro 2008 @ Innsbruck; 06/14/08 – Botswana vs. Côte d’Ivoire – FIFA World Cup Qualifier @ Gaborone

06/15/08 – Turkey vs. Czech Republic – Euro 2008 @ Geneva; Switzerland vs. Portugal – Euro 2008 @ Basel

06/17/08 – France vs. Italy – Euro 2008 @ Zurich

06/18/08 – Russia vs. Sweden – Euro 2008 @ Innsbruck

06/19-22/08 – Quarterfinals; Côte d’Ivoire vs. Botswana – FIFA World Cup Qualifier @ Abidjan

06/25-26/08 – Euro 2008 Semifinals

06/29/08 – Euro 2008 Finals

2008/2009

J01 – 08/09/08 – Lyon vs. Toulouse
J02 – 08/16/08 – Lorient vs. Lyon
J03 – 08/23/08 – Lyon vs. Grenoble
J04 – 08/30/08 – St. Etienne vs. Lyon
J05 – 09/13/08 – Lyon vs. Nice
LdC – 09/16/08 – M1 – Lyon vs. TBA
J06 – 09/20/08 – Le Havre vs. Lyon
J07 – 09/27/08 – Lyon vs. Nancy
LdC – 09/30/08 – M2 – Lyon vs. TBA
J08 – 10/10/08 – Rennes vs. Lyon
J09 – 10/18/08 – Lyon vs. Lille
LdC – 10/21/08 – M3 – Lyon vs. TBA
J10 – 10/25/08 – Auxerre vs. Lyon
J11 – 10/29/08 – Sochaux vs. Lyon
J12 – 11/01/08 – Lyon vs. Le Mans
LdC – 11/04/08 – M4 – Lyon vs. TBA
J13 – 11/08/08 – Monaco vs. Lyon
CdL – 11/11/08 – 1/8 – Lyon vs. TBA
J14 – 11/15/08 – Lyon vs. Bordeaux
J15 – 11/22/08 – PSG vs. Lyon
LdC – 11/25/08 – M5 – Lyon vs. TBA
J16 – 11/29/08 – Lyon vs. Valenciennes
J17 – 12/06/08 – Nantes vs. Lyon
LdC – 12/09/08 – M6 – Lyon vs. TBA
J18 – 12/13/08 – Lyon vs. Marseille
J19 – 12/20/08 – Caen vs. Lyon
J20 – 01/10/09 – Lyon vs. Lorient
CdL – 01/14/09 – 1/4 – Lyon vs. TBA
J21 – 01/17/09 – Grenoble vs. Lyon
CdF – 01/24/09 – 1/16 – Lyon vs. TBA
J22 – 01/31/09 – Lyon vs. St. Etienne
CdL – 02/03/09 – 1/2 – Lyon vs. TBA
J23 – 02/07/09 – Nice vs. Lyon
J24 – 02/14/09 – Lyon vs. Le Havre
J25 – 02/21/09 – Nancy vs. Lyon
LdC – 02/24/09 – 1/8 First Leg – Lyon vs. TBA
J26 – 02/28/09 – Lyon vs. Rennes
CdF – 03/03/09 – 1/8 – Lyon vs. TBA
J27 – 03/07/09 – Lille vs. Lyon @ Stade de France
LdC – 03/10/09 – 1/8 Second Leg – Lyon vs. TBA
J28 – 03/14/09 – Lyon vs. Auxerre
CdF – 03/17/09 – 1/4 – Lyon vs. TBA
CdL – 03/21/09 – FINALE – Lyon vs. TBA
J29 – 03/22/09 – Lyon vs. Sochaux
J30 – 04/04/09 – Le Mans vs.Lyon
LdC – 04/07/09 – 1/4 First Leg – Lyon vs. TBA
J32 – 04/11/09 – Lyon vs. Monaco
LdC – 04/14/09 – 1/4 Second Leg – Lyon vs. TBA
J32 – 04/18/09 – Bordeaux vs. Lyon
CdF – 04/21/09 – 1/2 – Lyon vs. TBA
J33 – 04/25/09 – Lyon vs. PSG
LdC – 04/28/09 – 1/8 First Leg – Lyon vs. TBA
J34 – 05/02/09 – Valenciennes vs. Lyon
LdC – 05/05/09 – 1/2 Second Leg – Lyon vs. TBA
CdF – 05/09/09 – FINALE – Lyon vs. TBA
J35 – 05/13/09 – Lyon vs. Nantes
J36 – 05/16/09 – Marseille vs. Lyon
J37 – 05/23/09 – Lyon vs. Caen
LdC – 05/27/09 -FINALE – Lyon vs. TBA
J38 – 05/30/09 – Toulouse vs. Lyon