Those Other Cup Tournaments

By: Inara | October 31st, 2007

Just what we need as Lyon are finally establishing a comfortable rhythm: more games. Tomorrow, Lyon will face Caen in the Coupe de la Ligue round of 16.

October 31st, 2007 aka HALLOWEEN
Stade Michel-d’Ornano, Caen
4:00 PM Eastern Time (21:00 in France)

Coupe de la Ligue Background:

France’s two cup competitions, the Coupe de la Ligue (French League Cup) and the Coupe de France (the French Cup) are the equivalent of the Carling Cup and the FA Cup in England, only less popular. Sam covers both tournaments pretty well, but basically, the CdL is open to both professional divisions (L1 and L2) while the CdF is open to all football clubs, both professional and amateur. The CdL is already in progress, the CdF starts in January.

Match Background:

As title winners, Lyon, along with runners-up Marseille, received a bye to the round of 16. You would think, given the superiority of Lyon and their never-ending quest for domestic domination, that they would have racked up a tidy collection of cup trophies to go along with their league wins.

Actually, no. Lyon have yet to win a domestic double, which lends further credence to the fact that Lyon are cursed somehow, and not just in Europe. Their last cup win was in 2001 in the CdL, a trophy which led to six years of back to back titles. Their last French Cup win was in 1973, back when Raymond Domenech was playing for Lyon.

Lyon did come close last year when they made it all the way to the finals of the CdL but lost out in injury time to Bordeaux, thanks to a Remy Vercoutre goal keeping error. That was probably the darkest time at the club because it followed on the heels of an early Champions League elimination by Roma. It was after the CdL final that Florent Malouda and Tiago decided to leave.

But this year, Alain Perrin has promised that things will be different. As a Lyon coach, it’s difficult to make a name for yourself when predecessors have broken all manner of records, so for Perrin, he could make Lyon’s history books if he brings home two trophies. He’s said that he’ll be taking both competitions seriously, regardless of the opposition.

As for the opposition, Lyon’s first opponent in the CdL is Caen, a promoted team that is home to two of France’s brightest talents – Youn Gouffran and Benoit Costil. Ranked 16th in L1, their sole aim this year is to avoid relegation. So far, they’ve notched three home wins against Lille, Toulouse, and Nice, but have lost five and drawn three.

It’s a tossup as to how seriously Caen will take this game. Unlike a solid mid table side like Auxerre, Caen has no UEFA Cup aspirations (both the CdL and CdF winners are granted a berth in the UEFA Cup). Caen instead need to worry about league survival, and risking injuries and fatigue to their already threadbare bench might not be the smartest move.

Then again, Caen have their pride on the line as well, and if they can knock Lyon out of the tournament, it will go miles in restoring their confidence. Though they’ve only scored eight goals in the league, they’ve only conceded 12 (the same as Lyon), thanks in large part to their ‘keeper, Costil.

Lyon Info:

Fabio Grosso and Jeremy Toulalan are still out injured, and apparently Sandy Paillot and Milan Baros are feeling pain in their thigh muscles, so they’ll also sit out. Anderson is suspended.

Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre, Roux, Clerc, Réveillère, Michaël Charvet, Squillaci, Belhadj, Beynié, Bodmer, Fabio Santos, Källström, Juninho, Govou, Ben Arfa, Keita, Benzéma, Rémy, Fred.

For Lyon, these cup games are traditionally an opportunity to give time to players who’ve seen a lot of bench, as well as to rest players who’ve been playing constantly. Unfortunately, the injury list is longer than expected, so Perrin might be forced to field a lineup featuring some many first choice players.

Expected lineup:

Roux
Clerc – Squillaci – Bodmer – Belhadj
Juninho – Fabio Santos – Juninho
Keita – Fred – Ben Arfa

Lyon currently have zero depth in defense. Originally, Perrin intended to give Paillot some playing time, but because of his untimely injury, Perrin has had to take Michael Charvet, a defender I’ve never head of, out of the reserves. However, we might witness Frederic Roux make his Lyon debut. As a backup keeper (technically he’s the backup of the backup), these cup matches are the only times he’ll ever get the chance to play.

The situation is just as sparse in midfield. With Toulalan out, and if Perrin decides to put Mathieu Bodmer in central defense again, then Juninho, Kim Kallstrom, and Fabio Santos have no choice but to play, unless Perrin decides to start Romain Beynie, another reserve player. But Perrin did say that he wants Bodmer to return to playing in the midfield, so we might see this Charvet guy start. Maybe. I have no idea actually, and I doubt Perrin does either.

By comparison, the attack force looks healthier, with only Baros missing. Perrin has said that Karim Benzema will be rested, which means that Fred will get the start – his first start for Lyon in almost six months. Sidney Govou may also be rested, so he’ll be replaced with Kader Keita. The other wing position might be open to Hatem Ben Arfa or to Loic Remy, who was called up to replace Baros. I personally would have preferred to see Anthony Mounier instead of Remy, but Perrin seems to have a man crush on Remy.

Viewing options:

Umm, none so far. In France they are showing the game on France 3. For the rest of us, you can check here to see if a stream is posted tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, you can follow along on football365.fr’s live blog.

Expected Result:

Costil is a good goalkeeper – far better than Vercoutre and Roux put together. If Lyon win this, it will probably be a narrow victory, either 1-0 or 2-1. Given the state of Lyon’s defenses, I can see Lyon conceding.