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*

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.

Just some random odds and ends for you to read as you bide your time waiting for Lyon’s Champions League clash with Liverpool.

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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)

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:

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:

The biggest news is the medical update on Bafetimbi Gomis. Two days ago at Guingamp, Gomis collapsed during practice with the France squad. He was out for a minute or two but revived enough to walk out of the field. He apparently felt fine afterward, and though the team doctor insisted he stay off his feet for the rest of the day – and though his fellow players were scared shitless – he’s been cleared to go back to full training today.

Gomis periodically suffers from Vasogoval episodes, which is a malaise of the vagus nerve. Certain situations can trigger attacks, which is stress, in Gomis’s case. Jean-Michel Aulas raised the red flag stating how alarmed he is over Gomis’s health – this is his third attack since joining Lyon – but Emmanuel Ohrant, OL’s club doctor, says that Gomis is just fine. His health is carefully monitored, and he does not have any heart problems, which is the number one worry in these situations. He undergoes frequent medical checkups, and so far, the club is satisfied with the state of his health. Ohrant even points out that not only were Lyon aware of this issue before they signed Gomis, but that St. Etienne knew about it before they offered him a pro contract, so it is clearly not that much cause for concern.

All the same, it’s still scary to think about, especially when footballer deaths seem to be occurring on an almost yearly basis. While I do trust both OL and Le Bleus when they say that Gomis is fine, it’ll take a long time before this picture is wiped from my memory.

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Here is a quick run down of all the international action involving OL players.

France (vs. Faroe Islands – 10/10/09, vs. Austia – 10/14/09): Jeremy Toulalan, Hugo Lloris, Sidney Govou, Bafetimbi Gomis.

France U21 (vs. Netherlands – 10/09/09, vs. Belgium(h) – 10/12/09, vs. Belgium (a) – 10/14/09): Clement Grenier, Yannis Tafer, Thimothée Kolodziecziak, Alexandre Lacazette

Cameroon (vs. Togo – 10/10/09, vs. Angola – 10/14/09): Jean II Makoun

Sweden (vs. Denmark – 10/10/09, vs. Albania – 10/14/09): Kim Kallstrom

Bosnia (vs. Estonia – 10/10/09, vs. Spain – 10/14/09): Miralem Pjanic

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On to the good news. OL Féminines, who are participating in Europe for the third year in a row, defeated Serbian club Masinac to reach the Round of 16 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The ladies defeated Masinac 1-0 at home and then beat them 5-0 away (check out this link on the main webpage for lots of pictures). They’ll be facing Danish side Fortuna Hjørring in the next round. For those of you who keep track of women’s football, UEFA overhauled this tournament, renaming it from the previous moniker, the Women’s Cup, and also changing around the format so that it was closer to the men’s format.

I’m also pleased to report that Aulas continues to take OL Féminines seriously – not only is he still continuing to let them use the Stade de Gerland for their European and major domestic matches, but he’s continuing his policy of aggressive recruiting and extensive financial support. Many of the women are now on pro-contract, and he’s trying to lure in more players from abroad. The latest target is Kolbotn’s goalkeeper and Norweigian international Christine Colombo Nilsen, who is being considered to replace Sarah Bouhaddi, France’s #1 gk. Bouhaddi herself was brought on this past summer (ironically to replace Bente Nordby, Norway’s previous #1), but due to an injury she picked up, she’ll be out for six months.

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The FFF had a great article on its website about the long standing friendship between Yannis Tafer and Clement Grenier, two of the youth players Puel is integrating into the senior squad. The article provides a nice look into their experiences and insights of growing up together in Lyon’s training center. Reading it, I got the feeling that these two are being groomed as the next Karim Benzema/Hatem Ben Arfa duo, which would be great on one hand, but on the other hand (all that ~dramah~), maybe it’d be better to let the boys grow up without the shadows of their currently troubled predecessors looming over them.

*Bonus question: Who is the next Samir Nasri to complete the latest golden trio?

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And since we’re on the subject of young prodigies, I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of Karim Benzema’s now famous interview in which he admitted to not trying very hard for both France and Lyon. He also blamed Claude Puel as the reason for his leaving (yeah right). Raymond Domenech is pissed while Jean-mimi is patting himself on the back for getting rid of Benzema before his megalomania began taking serious effect – and for 35 million euros, no less.

I’m rather sad about Benzema’s words because until last season, he was such a hard working and humble kid. He loved OL, and we loved him. But the press and stardom got to him, and pretty soon he was thinking that he was bigger than the club. Regardless of that, I was still upset to see him leave this past summer, but it looks like Lyon’s strategy of cutting loose players has once again worked out. Because for all of Benzema’s talents, his attitude would have further poisoned the atmosphere among the players, and no amount of goals would make that worthwhile (plus, it’s not like Benzema was all that great last season anyway). It was time for him to leave and time for OL to lose their dependence on him.

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Hugo Lloris has been voted September’s Player of the Month by the L’Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP). Lloris beat out team mate Bafetimbi Gomis and Bordeaux’s Alou Diarra. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who can say that Lloris doesn’t deserve it – he’s been the best player in L1 this past month, and his performances in the Champions League have been equally impressive. Despite picking up a harsh red card against Serbia during France’s WC qualifiers this past month, he still remains an integral part of Domenech’s plans, and most expect him to continue being the first gk choice over Steve Mandanda.

Buttttttttt…

I happened to watch Lloris’s latest interview on the FFF website, and wow, that was cringe-worthy. Somehow, he’s managed to pick up Jeremy Toulalan’s bad camera habits. The poor boy can’t stop touching his face (nor can he look into the camera) during his less than three minute interview. The entire time I was watching it, I was having nightmare flashbacks to this video. You all know how much I adore both Lloris and Toulalan, but really, someone needs to tie their hands down and keep their eyes up any time they give an interview.

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Lyon’s new stadium, which still hasn’t left the drawing board yet, has been officially selected by France’s Euro 2016 committee as one of the 12 sites for the games. While France hasn’t officially been named as hosts, their competitors are Sweden/Norway, Turkey, and Italy. The first two have never hosted the Euros while Italy’s financial situation is rather dire at the moment, which makes France the favorites.

Aulas is hoping to get the final plans approved, though the stadium being selected as part of the tournament will no doubt speed the process along. The costs have jumped up another one hundred million, raising the estimated costs to 350 million euros. In addition, Aulas is working with the city to address the issue of accessibility to the new stadium site, which is the biggest concern among those opposed to the project.

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And to cap off this massive post, here are the latest transfer fallacies blurbs.

*Inter Milan is keeping tabs on Jeremy Toulalan and may make a move for him either this January or the next summer. They need to replace their aging DMs, and France has proved to be the best source of those. While I’m tempted to brush this off, I worry over how long we’ll be able to keep Toulalan, who said that he has no plans to leave any time soon and definitely not until after the World Cup. Personally, he’s one of the players I want to keep at OL for life, and so hopefully Aulas will do whatever it takes to keep Toulalan at Lyon.

*At least Ederson has denied that he’s tempted by the cow eyes that Inter has also been making at him, though unlike Toulalan, I don’t anticipate Ederson to stay at OL for more than another two years or so. For now, Ederson is happy at OL (though he is chafing at losing his starting place), but Inter have been following him for over a season, and Jose Mourinho is no stranger when it comes to buying expensive players from OL.

*Manchester City’s interest in Miralem Pjanic gave me a good laugh. If Pjanic leaves, it won’t be for a while and not for Manchester City. And DEFINITELY not for 5 million pounds.

*Marouane Chamakh has finally put an end to rumors of a potential move to Lyon. In all honesty, this hasn’t been a serious option for the past few years, but Aulas really likes him and has wanted him at OL for a long time. But Chamakh says that while a transfer to OL was enticing a a few seasons back, he can’t imagine playing for another French club anymore, so when he does leave Bordeaux, it’ll be for a club abroad.

*While this isn’t exactly a transfer rumor, Mathieu Bodmer said recently that he doesn’t regret changing positions from midfield to central defense. It’s a fairly lengthy interview full of details, but the salient points are that he gets more playing time as a CB and that his bust up with Puel (which occurred before he left Lille, a full year before Puel followed him to Lyon) is old history, and that the two have a completely professional relationship. Which basically means that Puel is on the bottom of his Christmas card list. But at least Bodmer isn’t trying to move to another club, which is often the case when players are forced to play in positions they don’t really like.

Source: Lyon’s official website (I’m serious).

Coming off the set of The Sound of Music.

Benzema is pleased, but Keita would rather be someplace else.

Sonny and Makoun are going for the celebrity couple look.

It’s frightening how good these two look together.

But Toulalan has no one to hold his hand.

*weeps for him while also surreptitiously volunteering*

(Photos courtesy of Blog de Olympique-Lyonnais-H-P)

It must have been quite a reunion for the 2Bs.

Oops, how did this picture get in here?