Le Choc I: Lyon vs. Bordeaux

By: Inara | November 15th, 2008

Alternatively: Benzema vs. Gourcuff. Puel vs. Blanc. First vs. Second. The Lyon Offside vs. The Bordeaux Offside. Inara vs. Jennifer. Etc.

All you need to know is that tomorrow features two of France’s heavyweights in a game that could directly influence the title, both in terms of points and in terms of psychology.

November 16th, 2008
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

Match background:

Matches with these sort of stakes have been rare in recent years. It’s taken a long time for another French team to offer more than token resistance to Lyon, and this season, there are two of them. Marseille is the flashier of the two, but Bordeaux are steadier, and having pushed Lyon all of last year, this year they’ll be looking to do even better.

Bordeaux’s past record against Lyon is so-so. In the last ten years, Bordeaux have only won once at the Gerland, though that game took place less than two years ago – a defeat which set off a devastating chain reaction for Lyon that some say was the start of a decline. Bordeaux also have a huge psychological advantage over Lyon. Twice in the last two years, they’ve snatched a trophy right under Lyon’s nose. The first was the Coupe de la Ligue in 2007, when Bordeaux scored a goal in stoppage time to give them the trophy. The second was the Trophee des Champions this past August, a game which went into extended penalties (thanks for missing, Fabio “I won the World Cup” Grosso!).

They’ve got a terrific manager in Laurent Blanc, who prefers to lead his men by quiet example rather than the dramatics that can be seen everywhere else. He’s kept the team that pushed Lyon last year, except he’s made some notable additions this summer, including Yoan Gouffran and Yoann Gourcuff, who is currently one of the best players in L1. Bordeaux also possess the talents of Fernando Cavenaghi, Marouane Chamakh, Wendel, and Alou Diarra (remember him?). So this is a very talented and experienced team that has nothing to be ashamed of.

Currently, Bordeaux are 4th, having won seven of them, lost three, and drawn three. They’ve scored 20 goals and conceded 11. They have the second best offense in the league (yet with nine goals less than Marseille) and the fourth best defense.

Lyon have the best defense in the league with only 8 goals conceded but the fifth best attack with only 19 goals scored. They are currently four points ahead of second place Marseille, who failed to reduce the gap to one point thanks to their home loss to Lorient today. If Lyon win tomorrow, they can increase their lead to seven points. However, Bordeaux have stakes of their own, and with Toulouse only a point ahead of them, they have the chance to jump to second place tomorrow.

And of course there is the psychological aspect to consider. If Lyon can beat Bordeaux soundly, that will just confirm their dominance. But if Bordeaux beat Lyon, especially at the Gerland, that’s a sign that the established order might be ready to fall.

Lyon info:

Francois Clerc is well on the road the recovery, and we may even see him before winter break. Miralem Pjanic is just beginning his recuperation though, and Fabio Santos has to spend at least two weeks on the sidelines. John Mensah has been training, so hopefully we’ll see him soon. The bad news is that Mathieu Bodmer isn’t recovering as well as he should from his adductor injury, and apparently the club is considering surgery for him – something that would keep him out for pretty much the rest of the year.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Réveillère, Cris, Boumsong, Grosso, Faure, Gassama, Toulalan, Makoun, Juninho, Källström, Delgado, Fred, Benzema, Piquionne, Ederson, Govou.

Jeremy Toulalan, Hugo Lloris, Cesar Delgado, and Karim Benzema, who were all rested during Lyon’s humiliating League Cup loss to Metz, return to action. However, Anthony Mounier and Kader Keita have been sent to the reserves. Keita deserves it, but Mounier has been looking good, so I’m surprised that he won’t even make the bench this weekend.

Expected lineup:

Puel will be putting out his strongest team, none of this rotation nonsense. It’ll probably be a 4-3-3 since he hasn’t had enough time to make the 4-4-2 a more natural and solid formation for the players to get used to.

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

Nothing to say about the back or midfield, those positions are pretty much set in stone. Up front, obviously Karim Benzema will start. It’s the other two positions that are up in the air. Sidney Govou’s only played in one match since returning from injured, and that was only for 45 minutes, but he remains Lyon’s best option on the right. On the left, Ederson hasn’t been looking sharp recently, and both Puel and Bernard Lacombe have been unhappy with him so far. Cesar Delgado on the other hand has looked good and is probably Lyon’s best option in that position.

Viewing options:

This game should be very easy to find streams for. Check here one hour before the game. As always, please share if you find a good stream. For those of you with Setanta and Setanta Broadband, this game will be live broadcast tomorrow!!!

Expected result:

I feel slightly more confident since Bordeaux goalkeeper Ulrich Rame will be missing the match. I’m going to guess a 3-2 win for tomorrow.