Lyon vs. Rangers Preview

By: Inara | September 29th, 2007

Time to take a break from the wild ride that is Ligue 1 for some Champions League action. I know it’s early yet, as the game is on Tuesday, but I’d like to hear what you guys have to say, whether you’re a Lyon, Rangers, or Wellington Phoenix fan.

Del_Boy at the Rangers Offside may have some more information for you as the game draws closer.

October 2, 2007
Stade de Gerland, France
2:45 PM Eastern Time (20:45 in France)

Match background:

Lyon are in an awfully awkward position heading into Matchday 2. They are sitting at the bottom of the table and are the only team in the group who haven’t managed at least one goal. However, they also had the hardest game on Matchday 1, their first game being away to Barcelona. On the other hand, Rangers are sitting in the second spot with three points from their home win over Stuttgart. As the fourth seeds in the competition, they are theoretically the weakest side, but logic is often tossed out the window in the Champions League.

Lyon’s home record in Europe is impressive, with only last year’s loss to Roma the sole blight on an otherwise undefeated streak stretching back to 2003. The Gerland might have lost some of its invulnerability at the end of last season, but when Lyon fans get behind their team, they are pretty damn intimidating in their own right.

Rangers don’t have a great away record, though that can partly be attributed to their lack of experience in Europe. Their last away win in Europe was against Monaco in September 2000. But common sense dictates that Rangers won’t be playing for a win. Their lack of experience is compensated for enthusiasm, and given that they play a style of football totally different from the other three teams in the group, they have a significant advantage.

Lyon and Rangers have never met before, but Lyon played Celtic a few years ago in the Champions League. Additionally, thanks to both the (disastrous) France-Scotland meet ups this year, some Lyon players have come across a few of their Rangers counterparts.

The teams:

As the chart below shows, both teams are even domestically. Rangers have scored more goals, but given the weaker goalkeepers in the SPL (no offense to the Scots, but it’s true), it’s not a reason to be concerned. Lyon possess far more experienced players, both in the Champions League and internationally. With a more talented squad and a deeper bench, on paper Lyon are the favorites.

But given France’s bad luck with Scottish sides, Perrin isn’t ruling anything out. Having sent scouts to watch Rangers, and having personally watched France-Scotland, he has a good idea of what to expect from them defensively and offensively. He also called up Paul Le Guen for further insights into Walter Smith’s squad.

Lyon have been gaining momentum and team fluidity in the past few weeks, and as each day passes, the players and manager are growing more comfortable with each other. Fitness is at acceptable levels, and Perrin is working hard to minimize Lyon’s weaknesses.

Rangers are not quite at their comfort zone just yet as they are still attempting to settle, but who knows, they might pick Tuesday to play as a cohesive team.

The managers:

Perrin was criticized quite soundly after the defeat at Barcelona, and though Lyon have done relatively well otherwise (given the extenuating circumstances), he’s still under a considerable amount of pressure to deliver the kind of performances expected of Lyon. Winning is not enough – Lyon must win well. But Perrin is confident that as time goes on, Lyon will get better. Unlike last year, when Lyon peaked too early, Perrin believes that his Lyon will reach top form after winter, which is generally when the team starts having problems. Having managed Portsmouth, he is familiar with the English style of play and plans to put his negative experiences into positive use.

Walter Smith is a coach with international experience and is aware of what to expect from Lyon. In an interview in the Herald, he dismissed remarks that Lyon aren’t the team they used to be, instead alluding to the old saying that while form is temporary, class is permanent.

“You always hear that they’re [Lyon] not at their best at the moment. But look at the French league table: they are up there again. They are a team which is more than capable of making up after a slow start. I just think that when it comes to the Champions League anything that happens in the domestic situation is forgotten about….If you look at any league, to go and win it half a dozen times, maintaining that as the pinnacle of your season, is very difficult. Despite what anyone says there is a sameness that comes in terms of winning it….At the start, when the draw was made this season, I looked at Lyon as second favourites in this group considering the experience they have gained in the Champions League over the last few years .I don’t think anyone would be insulted if I said Barcelona were favourites and Lyon second favourites. I still think that is the case. A lot of their players have experience in the Champions League. They are a good team with far, far more Champions League experience than we do.”

Still, Smith is more than familiar with Lyon’s biggest weakness, which is their inability in overcoming defensive sides. He will be do his best to exploit that.

The players:

I confess to not being a close follower of Scottish football. I only know a handful of their players, and that was due to the Paul Le Guen fiasco. Still, some of their players on their roster are familiar. First of all, the L1 faithful will recognize the names of Jean-Claude Darcheville and Daniel Cousin, who left Bordeaux and Lens respectively. There is also Brahim Hemdani, a midfielder who played under Perrin at Marseille.

While neither Cousin or Darcheville are players that would worry Lyon unduly, Darcheville – who’s scored 4 goals, including 1 in the CL for Rangers so far – was injured in today’s game against Motherwell and will miss his side’s trip to the Gerland. Cousin, a rejected love-child at Lens, may not be able to offer his teammates much advice on Lyon. As for Hemdani, I’m not quite sure what to think of him. So far he has featured only in European matches for Rangers but has yet to play domestically this season. So I guess we’ll be seeing him on Tuesday.

Ferguson: third time lucky?

There is also their influential captain Barry Ferguson who was on the pitch for both of Scotland’s wins over France. You can be sure he’ll be looking for a repeat. I personally have a negative image of this player, but it has more to do with his role in Paul Le Guen’s departure from Ibrox, not his skills as a player.

Also, for you Americans out there, DaMarcus Beasley made the move to Rangers this summer. The American international played against Lyon two years in a row in the Champions League with PSV. You can hear what Beasley had to say about Lyon at ESPN Soccernet by going here (on the right there is a media player, scroll down for “Beasley Ready for Champions League”).

Watch out For: Kim Kallstrom. Against a physical side, and assuming Perrin doesn’t mess with the tactics, Kallstrom tends to thrive against physical sides. A strong counterpart to Jeremy Toulalan, he’ll utilize his attacking skills and won’t allow the Scots to out muscle him. He isn’t the fastest of fellows, but since the Rangers don’t play with true wingers, his lack of pace won’t be a hindrance as it was against Barcelona. He can also leave more defensive duties to Toulalan since the Scots probably won’t be attacking much. He’s very sneaky and will unexpectedly launch rockets towards the goal.

For those of you wondering why I didn’t list Juninho, it’s because with this type of opposition, he tends to either get frustrated or disappear. However, he will still be a potent threat on dead ball situations. As for Benzema, I’d like to see how he handles Scottish defenders first.

Tactics:

Unlike last time, I won’t even attempt to guess what Perrin is thinking. But here is what we do know: Karim Benzema, Sidney Govou, Juninho, and Anthony Reveillere were given extra rest.

Le groupe lyonnais (probable): Vercoutre, Roux – Clerc, Réveillère, Squillaci, Cléber Anderson, Paillot, Grosso, Belhadj – Fabio Santos, Bodmer, Toulalan, Källström, Juninho – Govou, Ben Arfa, Benzema, Baros, Keita.

Given that Lyon are missing three of their best players due to injury (Fred, Gregory Coupet, and Cris), Rangers should consider themselves damn lucky. I would challenge any team out there to be successful while missing their starting goalkeeper, best defender, and best striker.

Lyon are left with Remy Vercoutre in goal. But I’m not as depressed about it for two reasons. First, he’s improved by a lot and has gotten more confident (though still prone to make some gaffes), and also, because he’s a great shot stopper, so he’ll be ready for most of those unexpected shots that Rangers will be taking. Just please no set pieces.

Benzema has scored 9 league goals so far this season.

Lyon’s attack will be shuffled, but it’s pretty much predictable. The real puzzle is what will happen defensively. Reveillere will probably be placed at RB (though I really think it should be Francois Clerc), with Fabio Grosso on the left. The Rangers don’t have any wingers like Lionel Messi to be closed down. So the question is, who will pair with Sebastien Squillaci? Anderson is a true defender but has only one full L1 match under his belt. Bodmer has played in defense more often but isn’t a great defender. Hmm…

Anyway, this is the formation I would like to see against Rangers:

—————-Vercoutre—————-
–Reveillere–Squillaci–Anderson–Grosso–
———Toulalan——Kallstrom———-
——Keita——————Govou——-
———————Ben Arfa————
————-Benzema——————–

What formation do you guys think Perrin should utilize?

Viewing options:

*pout*

Unfortunately, here in Amreeca, ESPN will not be broadcasting this match. They will be showing MU-Roma on ESPN2 and Stuttgart-Barcelona on ESPN Classic. Setanta will be showing Steaua-Arsenal and Stuttgart-Barcelona. Honestly, who cares about those teams anyway? Those of you living in far cooler countries will probably have local channels broadcasting the match (in France, Canal+ will be showing it).

For $10, you can buy the live stream off of UEFA. Or you can do what I do and use illegal P2P sites. I’ll provide more information on that closer to the match.

Or you can see if Lyon are still selling tickets and go watch the game in person.

Random info:

Jean-Claude Darcheville sent out a message to Lyon fans about how excited the ‘Gers are to be coming to France (you can watch the video here). Hoping that the Scots will find a cordial reception in Lyon, he also said that Rangers will be ready to welcome OL fans on the return match. They even created a special fanzone for them in Glasgow.

Scotland has some of the best football fans in Europe, so even if their national team has caused us French footie fans disappointment, their supporters are sure to be pleasant, given their behavior in Paris for France-Scotland.

Expected result:

I really want to say 2-0. But Lyon will struggle to break down their defense and creating a flowing attack. I don’t anticipate Rangers having an advantage in possession or shots on target, and they will do their best to break down any attacks (aka 10 men behind the ball). And I certainly don’t expect a loss. Lyon have home advantage and have a superior squad – they are not facing Barcelona, thank god. The key against Rangers is to make sure that they don’t close down our attacks and preventing them from having that odd chance on goal.

After the France-Scotland debacles, you can be sure Lyon will be taking Rangers seriously. As for Rangers, I’m sure they’re doing their homework, but perhaps they might slip into overconfidence. Based on one of Darcheville’s interviews, he’s confident about Lyon’s weakness and thinks that Rangers can surprise Lyon on our home soil. We’ll see.

So a more realistic result would be 1-0.

ALLEZ L’OL!!!