CdF: Croix-de-Savoie vs. Lyon

By: Inara | February 2nd, 2008

This Sunday, Lyon face Olympique Croix-de-Savoie 74 for the French Cup, the more prestigious of the two domestic cup tournaments. This is the only trophy yet to be won under the Aulas era - the last time Lyon brought this trophy home was in 1973 (back when a certain RayRay Domench played for the team).

Last year, after a rather arduous series of games, Lyon reached the quarterfinals, only to be kicked out by Marseille. It was a disappointing exit because it would soon be followed by the loss of the League Cup and an early Champions League exit. This year, with Lyon already out of the League Cup, Lyon are determined to win the French Cup, especially since Lyon have never won a domestic double in their entire history (L’Equipe devoted an entire album to pictures of Lyon getting kicked out of cup competitions).

Lyon’s French Cup pedigree hasn’t been the same since 1973.

February 3, 2008
Stade Joseph-Moynat, Thonon-les-Bains
10 AM Eastern Time (16:00 CET)

Match background:

There is a world of difference between Lyon and Croix-de-Savoie, most notably that one is the perpetual leader of the top flight while the other is currently in second place in the fourth division (referred to as Championnat de France Amateurs). And while Lyon’s annual budget is over €180m per year, Croix-de-Savoie’s is €1.8m per year. But these cup matches are always special, and Croix-de-Savoie will be determined to get something out of this match. No one has forgotten how Lyon had to struggle against Aviron Bayonnais last year in this very same competition - Lyon progressed thanks to an own goal. How embarrassing!

In fact, Croix-de-Savoie will be looking at this match as a reward. No one is expecting them to win, so they have nothing to lose. They will be playing for fun against one of the top ten sides in Europe whereas Lyon are under pressure to win convincingly. Croix-de-Savoie will also be looking at Libourne Saint-Seurin for inspiration - five years ago, that fourth division side eliminated Lyon from the French Cup at this stage of the tournament.

I am not really familiar with Croix-de-Savoie and so can’t say too much about them, but their top scorer with nine goals, Yohan Di Tommaso, is a graduate of Lyon’s youth academy. In fact, he was the classmate of Francois Clerc and Bryan Bergougnoux, and though he wasn’t offered a pro contract like the other two, the three still remain good friends (nb: Bergougnoux is now at Toulouse). You can read a nice joint interview of Clerc and Di Tommaso here. In addition to Di Tommaso, Croix-de-Savoie features five other players who attended OL’s youth academy - Pierre Bouby, Mikaël Rol, Anthony Martello, Julien Perrin, and Steven Inzerillo.

Lyon info:

It’s just unhappy news down on the Lyon front. Juninho is still out due to his toe. He’s been absent since the match against Toulouse, and boy do we really need him back. I’m only hoping he recovers soon because he needs to gain fitness for the match against Manchester United.

Anthony Reveillere has also been dropped at the last minute due to intense muscle cramps while Cris is still a long ways from match fitness. Anderson and Patrick Muller aren’t ready for anything just yet.

To make matters worse, Jeremy Toulalan, who collects cartons jaunes like a boy collecting baseball cards, will be suspended (though at least he’s missing the one match we don’t need him in). Marc Crosas was also having some muscle pain, but it must be okay by now if he’s available for the match.

Le groupe lyonnais: Coupet, Vercoutre - Clerc, Squillaci, Boumsong, Bodmer, Grosso, Charvet - Källström, Crosas, Beynié - Mounier, Ben Arfa, Delgado, Govou, Karaboué - Benzéma, Fred.

Since we’ve loaned out Loic Remy and Sandy Paillot, Perrin has promoted two other reserve players to keep Anthony Mounier and Romain Beynie occupied (Lyon traditionally have around three such players on their bench at all times). The first one is defender Michael Charvet, who was called up to the bench once before during a match against Caen last October. The second is striker Lossémy Karaboué, a frequent call up to France’s U19 squad.

Expected lineup:

Alain Perrin has stated that Jean-Alain Boumsong will be given his first start. Not that we have a choice - with both Juninho and Toulalan out, Lyon are short of midfielders and so can’t spare Mathieu Bodmer for defensive duties.

Perrin has also promised to select his squad around on the upcoming international matches. GASP. I know, crazy right? A manager willing to work with Raymond Domemech. Will wonders never cease? But seriously though, apparently Perrin called Ray to ask what players he plans to align for the A and A’ teams. And based on that, he will make his starting XI for Sunday.

So that means that Karim Benzema finally gets a day off! Also, Kim Kallstrom, who has pretty much played nonstop since the start of the season, might also start on the bench. And good thing Tou-la-la is suspended - I don’t think Perrin would have the willpower to leave him out if he had been available.

Possible formations are endless, but I don’t think Perrin will be as determined to stick with the 4-3-3 given the amount of players Lyon will be missing. So perhaps something like this:

Coupet
Clerc - Squillaci - Boumsong - Grosso
Crosas - Bodmer
Delgado - Ben Arfa - Govou
Fred

It’s also possible that Perrin might try a 4-4-2 by moving Hatem Ben Arfa up share striking duties with Fred. With Reveillere out, there is no choice but to play Fabio Grosso and Francois Clerc.

I wish that one of Ben Arfa or Sidney Govou could start on the bench, but that would mean starting Mounier, which I doubt Perrin will do. Still, I’m hoping to see good performances from the new kids like Crosas, Delgado, and Boumsong, as well as from the not quite new kids of Fred and Bodmer. A match like this is the best way to show what you’re made of without the fear of bottling a high stakes match.

Viewing options:

Ugh. Not sure how people will be able to watch this game. Eurosport France will be showing it online, but it only works if your IP address resonates from within the hexagon - or if you know how to use proxy servers. I’ll be hoping that there is at least one working stream. If not, we might have to follow live match commentary - my favorite is football365.fr.

Expected score:

I’m going to arbitrarily guess 3-1. Croix-de-Savoie will be motivated to get one in, but I’ll be hoping that Lyon put on their scoring boots.