Lyon Travel to the Parc…

By: Inara | October 27th, 2007

Lyon have the chance to reinforce their form in the league by getting good results this weekend against PSG. The capital club, on the other hand, have yet to win at home. Easy pickings for Lyon? I don’t think so. PSG are coached by none other than Paul Le Guen, a man who probably knows Lyon better than anyone else in Europe - including Alain Perrin.

October 28, 2008
Parc de Princes, Paris
4:00 PM Eastern Time (21:00 in France)

Match Details:

If you asked me what team challenges Lyon the most, I would say PSG. Unlike Bordeaux last year, whose sole aim was to prevent Lyon from playing, PSG play nice football, and they raise their game for matches against Lyon. Consequently, Lyon would always come this close to losing the match, often times trailing behind, and only in the last five minutes of the game would Lyon suddenly reverse the scoreline. In fact, this happens quite frequently with PSG.

And now that there are so many ties in between the two clubs, the games have taken on an additional significance. Besides being coached by the man who won three domestic titles with Lyon, PSG is now home to several former OL players, including Peguy Luyindula, Jeremy Clement, and Pierre-Alain Frau. Clement was formed at OL’s academy, so it’s extra special to see him.

Like Lyon, PSG are in a state of rebuilding, except unlike Lyon, PSG are doing so with only a quarter of the resources. When Le Guen arrived last winter, after a disastrous stint at Rangers (GRRR), he patiently saved Paris’s only professional football club from what would have been a terrible relegation.

This season they haven’t fared much better, and with only two wins, three draws, and six losses to their credit, I suppose you could say they are lucky to be in 14th place. But Le Guen’s goal this year with PSG is not to make an amazing comeback into the top 5 but a slow revival aimed at healing the club from the inside. And if that means benching all his senior players, changing his team captain, and playing members of his “C” team, he’ll do it.

And by that I mean, he has done it. Last weeked away at Valenciennes, Le Guen benched seasoned players such as Jerome Rothen, Pauleta, Didier Digard, Bernard Mendy, Sylvain Armand, Pierre-Alain Frau, and Peguy Luyindala, and left out Gregory Bourillon completely. He also stripped Mickael Landreau of the captaincy!

Instead, he played Mamadou Sakho, David Ngog, Granddi Ngoyi, Loris Arnaud, and Younousse Sankhare - all of whom are younger than 21. And he managed a very respectable draw.

Obviously Le Guen won’t be fielding so many youth players against Lyon, but it has created some confusion for Perrin because no one knows exactly who Le Guen will put out there. In a pre-match press conference, Perrin admitted that PSG had the upper hand because while Lyon players are known throughout the league, which means that opposing players are familiar with their strength and weaknesses, the newly promoted PSG players are an unknown quantity. Since Lyon have never played against them before, all they can rely on are a few video tapes.

As for Lyon, they’ll have to be careful. Le Guen was the man who promoted Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema from the youth teams. He was also the man who created Lyon’s 4-3-3 specifically for Juninho. Granted, the squad has had a significant level of turnover since then, but all the players at Lyon are familiar to Le Guen.

It goes without saying that Lyon need to win tomorrow because their place at the top of the table is purely provisional at the moment. Nancy might be two points behind, but they play relegation bound Metz on Saturday. Barring a shock result, Nancy should win it, and if Lyon lose on Sunday, Nancy will be on top of the table again - with a game in hand no less!

Lyon info:

Besides the usual injured suspects of Cris and Gregory Coupet, Patrick Muller is not fully match fit. He’s still not training normally, and the club hasn’t said anything about when to expect him back. He should have been back on the team a month ago, but apparently his injury relapsed.

Jeremy Toulalan hurt his knee last Sunday (what is with the knee injuries? Last year it was the thighs, remember?). It’s only a small muscle tear, but it will keep him out two weeks. He should be back for the home game against Stuttgart though.

Fabio Grosso will also sit out tomorrow’s match because he has a hematoma in his foot. But he will play against Caen, so it’s nothing serious. Sandy Paillot will take his place in the squad.

Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre, Hartock, Belhadj, Paillot, Squillaci, C. Anderson, Clerc, Réveillère, Fabio Santos, Bodmer, Juninho, Källström, Ben Arfa, Govou, Keita, Fred, Baros, Benzema

Perrin has promised that there would be player turnover to maintain freshness. He also said that he would give time to Fred. I’m not sure if that means Fred will start, but we can only hope. The sooner Fred gets back in form, the better. Perrin also said that Benzema needs rest, which would be a good thing.

Expected lineup:

Vercoutre
Reveillere - Squillaci - Anderson - Belhadj
Bodmer - Fabio Santos - Kallstrom
Ben Arfa - Fred - Keita

Perrin might also opt for a 4-4-2, with Fred and either Benzema or Milan Baros in the front. But I don’t know how smart it would be to try this out during an away game to one of the most hostile crowds in France. Perhaps Perrin should save the tinkering for the home game against Valenciennes next week.

Since Toulalan is out, Fabio Santos will have the opportunity to confirm all the good things I said about him. If Grosso sits out, Nadir Belhadj will take his place (thank god…I was wondering if we’d ever see him again). Mathieu Bodmer should also get the start, either over Juninho or Kim Kallstrom. It’s also time for Sidney Govou to start on the bench, with Kader Keita and Ben Arfaon the wings. And since we’re on the subject of turnover, I’d also like Francois Clerc and Baros to start. But that might be too much for good ‘ol Reggie…I mean Perrin.

Viewing options:

YESSS! Setanta will be broadcasting this match. That means I can watch the game with English commentary. I know I’m supposed to look down on match commentators since they all suck, but I still like hearing them talk anyway. I hate watching games broadcast in languages I don’t understand.

And as always, this site is your friend when it comes to streaming.

Expected Result:

I can see PSG holding Lyon to a draw. In a positive light, the match might end up 2-1 in favor of Lyon.