Lyon vs Nancy : the starter … and the non-starters

By: Megame | February 18th, 2011

Funny how time passes sometimes… Had Lyon’s calendar been different, the resounding win last weekend against their worst enemy, Saint-Etienne (1-4), would have lifted the club for weeks; but due to the incoming hurdle (who said wall ?) in CL next week, this win was quickly set aside to concentrate on José’s Jazz Band coming to Lyon. They swear, though, that they won’t forget the hors d’oeuvre: the championship game tonight. In L1, apart from hiccups against Nice and Valenciennes (2-1), Lyon still are on a decent stride in early 2011, not enough to unsettle Lille and Rennes, who valiantly progress at the top of Ligue 1, but just enough to maintain a reasonable distance for now. Welcoming Nancy is a double edge sword. Lyon has a chance to put pressure on their direct competitors in the event of victory, but can quickly plummet in case of defeat. And a crash tonight would look bad before the confrontation with the Great Real Madrid next Tuesday… especially after today’s news (read further down)

The problem is, welcoming this team now may not be the ideal starter before the spanish main dish of tuesday. And Lyon can’t afford to let go, or they may risk to lose valuable points in the struggle, fierce as it is, for the title of Champion de France. So every Lyonnais will be be careful not to underestimate the Lorrains, capable of the best like the worst this season, and not to leave too much energy on the pitch, a puzzle for Claude Puel who does not have so many alternatives (again, read further down)

Nancy’s side, recently invigorated after a catastrophic start to the championship are currently 14th, but are still under the threat of the red zone. This match will therefore be important for them, trying to stick to this good dynamics, now that the victory against Auxerre (3-1) has healed the heart of fans and players, after three defeats in a row.

The teams
Nancy: Grégorini – Lotiès, André Luiz, Sami, Bérenguer – N’Guemo, Cuvilier – Féret, Vahirua, Jeannot – Hadji (Cap)

Now here’s the bad news, except for Nancy tonight, and José on tuesday: Infuriated by the decision by Claude Puel to be benched for the Nancy game tonight, Lisandro kicked a ball in anger and injured his hamstring. It happened thursday night at training. He will therefore be absent tonight, and is very doubtful for the match against Real Madrid. Well done, dude, that’s clever.
Moreover, it is Vercoutre who will hold the post of keeper, as Lloris is still feeling bad about his nasopharyngitis.

Lyon: Vercoutre – Réveillère, Cris (Cap), Diakhaté, Cissokho – Källström, Gourcuff, Toulalan – Briand, Gomis, Delgado

Allez les Lyonnais!

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Team News and Rumors

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john

Has Diakhate been hurt or Puel just have more confidence in Lovren? As much as I think Diakhate is a two-legged natural disaster, I'd rather his experience against Real. Lovren may fold under such pressure.
MattAU

Haven't heard anything about him being injured. I feel exactly the same as you John, Lovren is the better player but i'd go with Cris and Diakhate against Madrid for the experience and physicality they bring. I think back to Boumsong totally dominating Messi a couple of years ago, that's what we need against Higuan, Ronaldo and Benzema.
Megame

Unfortunately, Toulouse let us down, and Rennes won.. We're back in fourth position, but with a much improved goal difference that is only second to Lille..
We're 1 point away from Marseille, 2 from Rennes and 4 from Lille... Doesn't look so bad, does it?
Megame

Yay! Thanks Montpellier! First defeat of Lille since end of October! They now only have 3 points more than Marseille, and 4 than us!
PSG won, they're now level with us but we've got 1 more goal difference.
Now Toulouse just needs to beat Rennes and we'll be back on the podium ;)
ederson honorato campos

And after Real we play against Lille! We must defeat Lille! If we beat Real, we will beat Lille! After St.Etienne and Nancy games I have more confidence that we still can win over Real and won the tittle of Le Championnat
Dror

Mourinho said he was looking forward to see who will start instead of Licha (Briand or Delgado), but i don't see any source saying Licha is beyond "doubtful" for the match, is it certain that he wont be playing?
Megame

What is being said is that he will probably be off for 10 days, meaning he won't be fit for Madrid, and is doubtful for Lille.
Michael

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
Number 70000000000 hahahahaha
Can't wait for Real :)
muaz

LOL!!!
he was sleeping when he was typing the zeroes
john

Lisandro hurt, fantastic! I hope OL go out and get a top notch physical trainer this summer. This is probably more important than even getting a CB.
Luke99

is adebayor gonna play for real Madrid or is he cup tied because he played in the eroupa league with man city? i think hes gonna make the difference if he plays im not really sure benzema and higuain are the much of a threat
lucie

Adebayor can play. Higuain is out (he's been injured for a few months now).
Carvivlie

Gourcuff was great tonight. Looked like the Gourcuff of Bordeaux. My only worry about Tuesday is our defense. Sloppy clearances in the back--if you can call them clearances when they go to the feet or head of the opposing player within the box.
AlexT

Now THIS was a Lyon team.
Megame

Yes but... There was nobody in front of us. It's been a VERY LONG evening for Nancy, I found them really disappointing.

So..; no comparison possible with next tuesday ... Sorry Nikhil ;)
CharlieFineman

Crap! Just when decided it was time to go away, Lyon scored four! Great preparation for Madrid. Wohoo!
CharlieFineman

Meant to say 'when I decided' :>
Russ

WOW what a finish by Briand!!! Top class!!! Bastos on the RW is his best position he is terrorizing the Nancy defense I hope you're taking notes for tuesday Mr Puel!!!
Megame

So, how does Briand's scissor kick compare to Rooney's goal of last week in your opinion?
Russ

yea have to agree with Ronan there it was 3-0 the players were relaxed and enjoying themselves on the pitch but not to take away from the goal itself which was top top class. Circumstances play a major role in this case.
Ronan

Not as good,Rooneys was a bit further out,at a more important point in the game and a derby,Rooneys was right in the top corner..Briands wasnt as good but still very impressive
Nikhil Apte

I'm so damn proud of this match! :D Bring on Madrid!
Carvivlie

Nice to see Briand get a goal after all of his hard work--and a real beaut of a but!
Carvivlie

I love Bastos put he would rather try to score the spectacular than pass the ball for a teammate to score.
Tibor

I hope you're sarcastic about it :D
Because I hate him because of that >:/
Carvivlie

If we are up by 4 goals--go ahead, be a one man show. But with one goal in the bag and a defense as leaky as ours--please pass and let us get a security goal!! .....ah, but Bastos does hit some good ones ;)
Megame

Half time Lyon lead 1-0 with a superb Gourcuff goal... and after Nancy blew their chance with a poor penalty kick.
OL : 7 chances to 2, 8 shots to 3, 3 on target vs 1, 57% possession, 8 fouls to 7.
Carvivlie

Hopefully this will teach Licha to settle down, BUT OMG, WHY NOW?????