Holy Shit! Now That Was a Beautiful Game!!!

By: Inara | November 8th, 2007

From now on, I’m going to stop making predictions. In my match preview, I was expecting a drab 1-0 scoreline. Umm, obviously I was off. How off, you ask? Well, today’s match between Lyon and Stuttgart featured six goals – and a missed penalty!!!!

Bodies were flying everywhere in this battle to the death.

Goals: Lyon (Ben Arfa 5, 37, Kallstrom 15, Juninho 93), Stuttgart (Gomez 13, 56)
Sanctions: Lyon (Reveillere 57, Grosso 74, Govou 88, Keita 91), Stuttgart (Basturk 50, Tasci 73)

Highlights and pictures at end of post.

Tactics: Lyon’s trademark 4-3-3

Vercoutre
Reveillere – Squillaci – Anderson – Grosso
Juninho – Fabio Santos – Kallstrom
Govou – Benzema – Ben Arfa

I think it’s safe to say that this is Lyon’s starting XI, at least for now. This is the fourth time that Perrin has utilized this lineup, and Lyon have won all four times. Fabio Santos does a good job in the holding midfield role, and Kim Kallstrom performs Tiago-esque by alternating between helping out Fabio Santos defensively and Juninho offensively.

Also, Sidney Govou and Hatem Ben Arfa have the freedom to switch sides frequently, which kept Stuttgart on their toes. I’m beginning to think that Govou really likes the left, since most of his more dangerous moments were when he was on that side.

Player Performances:

Someone in a previous post asked why I don’t rate player performances. I considered it, but I think I’ll have to pass on that. I don’t quite have the knack of determining the difference between a 6 and a 6.5, so I’ll leave that to L’Equipe and France Football. I’ll just have to settle for making comments.

Vercoutre confirmed his prowess as a shot stopper.

First, I want to say that Remy Vercoutre was, in my opinion, Lyon’s Man of the Match. Those of you who read this blog know I’m very critical of Vercoutre and don’t think he deserves to start for Lyon. I still hold that to be true, but today, Vercoutre put in a performance worthy of Lyon’s #1. He did make an error on the first Mario Gomez goal, but considering all the other saves he made, I’ll let that one slide. He also saved a penalty (wrongly awarded to Stuttgart), and that probably kept the match in Lyon’s favor because had Stuttgart scored, they would have tied with Lyon, which would have been fatal for Lyon’s qualification hopes.

Anthony Reveillere had a solid match today though he picked up a needless yellow card. He now has two – if he gets one more, he’ll be suspended. The other fullback, Fabio Grosso, was alright today. He had some nice runs down the left but lost possession a bit too easily. As for the center backs, Sebastien Squillaci and Anderson had a tough time containing Gomez and Cacau. I was alarmed at how easily OL’s CBs were overtaken.

In midfield, Kim Kallstrom was stellar today, especially in the first half. Not only did he score, but he also assisted Hatem Ben Arfa’s first goal, and had several other shots that were saved by Stuttgart’s keeper, Raphael Schafer. Juninho went up in power as the match went on, and I was impressed to see him everywhere – in Stuttgart’s penalty box, in Lyon’s penalty box, always attacking, always defending. Juninho fought from the first minute until the last and was rewarded by a goal at the very end. Also, is anyone missing Jeremy Toulalan? Fabio Santos was great today! Excellent tackling, good passing, and he created a lot of space for Juninho and Kallstrom. Perrin will have a selection headache when Toulalan returns to fitness.

A rare off night for Benzema.

Karim Benzema probably had one of his poorer matches this season. He didn’t play badly, but he was tired and had less movement on the ball than usual. He did have a few attempts at goal, but you could tell that he needed rest. I know Perrin had no choice but to start him today, but if that was the case, then Benzema should not have played last Saturday against Valenciennes. He might be a burgeoning world class player, but he’s only 19, and his body isn’t ready to handle such an intensive playing schedule. I noticed that he took a knock early in the game and limped a bit, which may have affected his performance today as well.

Sidney Govou confirmed his recent string of good performances by successfully harassing Stuttgart. As Lefutur pointed out, the shift in Govou’s priorities this season is behind his remarkable resurrection as a French international. His passing was sublime, and it was fun to watch him run circles around Stuttgart’s defenders. He did miss two easy chances at goal, but he wouldn’t be Govou if he weren’t a bad finisher.

And of course there is Hatem Ben Arfa, who scored a brace today. Today he showed us once again that Lyon don’t need Florent Malouda, Mancini, Jose Antonio Reyes, and all those other fancy players. Ben Arfa owned Stuttgart with his fast pace, tricky dribbling, and clever passing. His first goal was great, but his second goal – just WOW. I advise you guys to watch the video highlights of it. Until today, he’s never scored in the Champions League before, but now he has two goals in ten matches.

Ben Arfa’s second brace in two weeks.

As for the substitutes, Kader Keita came on for Benzema but failed to impress (though I’m not holding it against him – the guy can only do so much in such a limited amount of time). Same with Nadir Belhadj, who replaced Ben Arfa. But Lyon’s third substitution, Francois Clerc, who replaced Govou, provided the assist to Juninho’s last minute goal.

Match Analysis:

Don’t let the scoreline deceive you – it’s quite flattering for Lyon. In reality, I was alarmed at Lyon’s performance tonight. While it was nice to win, especially at home, where Lyon have failed to win in their last three CL matches, I think Lyon owe their victory to a lot of luck.

The match started out brightly enough in Lyon’s favor, especially with two goals in the first 15 minutes. But then, in what is becoming an alarming habit, Lyon dropped their guard, and a minute later, Gomez put one back for Stuttgart on a rebound. After that, Stuttgart kept pushing and pushing, and it was with a sigh of relief when Ben Arfa added a third goal for Lyon right before half time.

It was all too easy for Mario Gomez.

But Lyon again lost their concentration, and after a silly mistake by Vercoutre, Gomez added another for Stuttgart. From that moment on, Stuttgart looked to be the most dangerous team. They had a lot of good opportunities and looked like they could equalize at any second. They nearly did when Gomez went down at the edge of the box (though replays showed he tripped and was not fouled). Thomas Hitzlsperger took the penalty, but it was saved by Vercoutre, hero of the night. Had Stuttgart scored, Lyon would have been fucked.

Lyon managed to recover from the shock and started to attack back, but again, it was their lack of finishing that failed them. Lyon had so many chances to kill the match – even the commentator was amazed by it! In fact, I noticed that Lyon’s determination to play attractive football often times complicated what should have been simplified movements. At times, it was like Lyon was trying to pass Stuttgart to death! It reminded me of last year’s Arsenal, who would spend so much time and energy on build up play that they would bungle the final touch.

Still, it’s nice to see Lyon be attractive offensively, something that was sorely missing from the side for a long time now. The complicity between Ben Arfa, Benzema, Govou, and Juninho is great to watch.

Who says that Juninho’s a fading star?

But Lyon can’t expect to progress in the competition if they don’t work out their defensive kinks, which primarily involve losing focus and failure to properly man mark. There were too many instances in the game when Mario Gomez was left unmarked, and too many times when Stuttgart managed to bypass Lyon’s defenses.

I’m not sure what Perrin can do to address this issue in time for the next Champions League match, when Lyon welcome Barcelona, but he’s going to have to do something.

Match Highlights (sorry for the quality):

Match Photos (be patient as they load, there are a lot of them):

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Champions League, Match Results, Pictures, Team News and Rumors, Video

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Evilo

Oh I give full credit to Marcelo for his brazilian scouting.
Juninho was a great fit. Fred as I said was much more obvious, but Cris was really a bet, since he had failed Europe once already.
French scouting is much more arguable, since they just tend to buy the guys that make headlines.

As for Fred's "mental breakdown", he was known as an attitude risk in Brazil before coming to Lyon.
Evilo

COREY : Come on, I know this is an OL blog, but don't be so OL-centered... :D
SOME players can have good careers without coming through OL.
Abidal played for Monaco and Lille and was hardly an unknown. He was considered a prime young player, like Toulalan when he signed with OL.
Malouda was scoring 10 goals with Guingamp in 2003 and he was a hot commodity then. If he hadn't signed with Lyon, he would have signed with another big club and likely would have made the NT because of the lack of depth at LW (that's still the case, he only makes it because it's arguably the weakest position in french football).
Coupet was touted as a promising goalie back in St Etienne days. He signed with the enemy Lyon at age 25 and at some point wanted to leave Lyon (he didn't feel trusted there). That cooled down and he stayed. But honestly, had Coupet left at the time and went to Bordeaux as he was rumored, there's no reason to think he wouldn't have made the NT.

Sébastien Frey is arguably as good as Coupet (meaning the very top of the world) and he didn't go through Lyon.
Ribery is one of the best in the world and he didn't go through Lyon.
Landreau is playing with the NT and he didn't play for Lyon.
Same for Gallas, Thuram, Sagnol, Vieira, Makelele, Henry who are all starters for the NT.

Thierry : Everyone knew these three. They both had at least 3 full years as starters in L1 and all had shined.
I fully disagree with your assessment on the Lille players quality.
Benoit Cheyrou shined in Auxerre, much more than with Lille.
Keita hasn't progressed since leaving Lille? Wow that's rich to know in 3 months.
Moussilou was already barely a starter in Lille and already a very streaky scorer.
Cygan was a leader. Bruno Cheyrou had ONE good season and left for Liverpool.

Abidal, Bodmer, Makoun, Keita are high quality players. They were in Lille and they're still are. They're among the best in the world at their position.
And just because three of them haven't shined with Lyon (yet) doesn mean they're unproven.
Really Bodmer and Makoun could sign with ManU, Arsenal or Milan like they were rumored and not miss a beat there. I think it would have been better for them actually (I think Bodmer made a mistake going to Lyon since they're deep at his position). Keita was one of the best L1 players last year and the year before. He was easily at Ribery's level and now look at it, Ribery is setting the Bundesliga on fire (again a mistake signing with Bayern).
Abidal was already considered as one of the best LB/CB in L1 when he signed with Lyon (but a tad young to make the NT).

As for your assessment on Juni and co.
Juninho was well known in Brazil but not at all in Europe.
Cris made a desastrous stay in Leverkusen and was deemed as a red card waiting to happen. He really turned his career around.
Essien was a promising prospect out of Bastia. I had him ranked in my top prospect like back then before he signed with OL.
Diarra was seen as a solid guy in Holland. Not more than that though.
Fred was an easy purchase though, he was coming off a great season in Brazil and was thought of as the next big brazilian scorer. So really I don't think his career with OL has lift his status (with his attitude problems, already detected in Brazil, it might even have hurt his status).
Laurie

Re: NT callups. I was surprised to see Clerc and Squillaci as well. I like Squillaci, but I don't know that he's as good as Mexes. And I was glad to see the Ray gave Clerc another chance.
Laurie

If I had missed the Galaxy-Vancouver game it would have been all Lyon's fault. I just couldn't leave until Juninho had scored and I heard that final whistle.

I had the second-half audio running the whole time I was making the reservatons and buying the tickets. Then I had my suitcase in the car and keys in the ignition and had to run back in for something, and ended up sitting in front of the computer watching the end of the game. I was just lucky there was no border traffic going into Canada.
Thierry

Agreed with Corey. Except the "experts" who knew Abidal, Malouda or Coupet before they came to Lyon ? If you look at Lille(a team i follow) they had rarely a big star who shine but a solid and efficient group team. The Cheyrou brothers, Cygan, Moussilou, even Keita there are a lot of players who never really improved outside Lille. When went to Lyon, Abidal he certainly hasn't got the National stature. Same thing for Malouda or Coupet. Same thing for Essien, Diarra, Juninho, Cris, Fred... Cris was in a kind of Vegetative state and no one thought about him for NT.
Corey

When I say developed I mean they became internationals with Lyon, if they were still playing for St. Etienne, Lille and Guingamp they would not be internationals. I certainly did not mean they were youth team players for us. And I disagree Evilo, if they had not choosen Lyon I do not think they would have had the same career path. With Lyon they had international exposure through the CL and winning titles in L1. Their ability as a player does not always mattter in international call ups, otherwise Bodmer would have been a international awhile. Exposure has something to do with it too, although I prefer to pick the best quality player rather then the most hyped player.
Evilo

Nope Ara.
L1 is superior to the Bundesliga in terms of talents, technical, tactical aspects. Germans are better mentally, and have more bold coaches.

It's not a surprise France is the second best country in the world when it comes to producing talents. And these talents almost all play in L1 before going abroad.
Even foreign talents go through L1. The other day I was watching Barca. Ronaldinho? Check. Marquez? Check. Touré? Check. Henry? Check. Edmilson? Check. Abidal? Check. Thuram? Check. Heck even Eto'o was on a trial with Le Havre.

Right now, La Liga is arguably the best league in Europe. One could make a case for the EPL and I find it certainly more attractive than la Liga, but I think the quality is better in Spain.
Serie A is a distant third. They have a good group of 3-4 powerful teams, but the depth is horrible. Our 12-15th ranked teams would have no trouble being 8-9th in Italy.
Then we have L1. And then Bundesliga.

BTW Inara, regarding your 3 guys. Abidal really exploded at Lille. He didn't have the coverage he had in Lyon, but he was great there. Malouda had a few good years before coming to Lyon. Coupet was highly touted in St Etienne.

Now, all three gained experience and certainly progressed in Lyon (especially Coupet), but really they arguably could have had the same career path if they hadn't signed with Lyon.
Ara

As much as like Lyon and Ligue 1 its last place among the other leagues lets admit that seriously.
Ara

the order of quality and skill.

1)EPL
2)La Liga
3)Serie A
4)Bundesliga
5)Ligue 1
Evilo

Hehe, none of Coupet, Abidal and Malouda were "developped" by Lyon.
Corey

I hope everyone who saw this game understands that lyon represents Ligue 1 football. several times during the match they took a second to show player reactions, but occassionally they showed some pieces of skill. They were all lyon players, Kallstrom, Benzema, Ben Arfa, Fabio Santos all doing nice little moves to fool Stuttgart players. This is the norm in Ligue 1, it is a very skillful and technical league, so even though it does not boast 3.4563 goals a game like Germany, it has skill and technical play in abundance, something the EPL lacks horribly.

As for Lyon's performance, Inara, you are to easy on Vercoutre. I though he made a few good saves, but he was horrible. The few good saves he made he embelished with acrobatic dives and unneeded punches. The first goal was solely his fault, that ball should have been held. The second goal was his fault too, he should have smoothered that cross. He learned from his mistake and did just that later on in the match. The penalty save was good, but it never should have happened. Such a poor call by the ref.

Kallstroms goal was a thing of beauty, but Ben Arfa put on a show tonight. The midfield was solid attacking and defending, Govou and Ben Arfa terrorizing Stuttgarts backs, but Benzema was off the pace, clearly tired, but not given a rest by Perrin? Stupid. Squillaci has not been as great simply because Anderson is not the physical presence that Cris is. Which means Squillaci's flaws are more apparent, Anderson's too. I still dont rate Anderson. Defensively we need to improve, Grosso needs to be taken out for Belhadj, and Muller/Cris needs to return. Other then that I have no complaints. And cheers to all the OL who were selected for the national team, looking at the list, we have 5 withouyt Coupet, and Abidal and Malouda were developed by Lyon. Not a bad showing considering most of France's squad plays outside France.
Storm

I agree - I think Squillaci's a fine player but his form this season without Cris is definately below par. And Clerc well frankly it often surprises me when he is called up. No Trezeguet either again - I wonder what back handed compliment he's going to pay Benzema this time!
Storm

And Ben Arfa's been called up again for the national team - would seem an error for him not to be after the past two/three weeks but what an amazing past few weeks for him. Also called up Benzema, Govou, Toulalan, Squillaci and Clerc
Storm

Fantastic match but yes the defense is really wobbling (Vercoutre excepted). We so desperately need Cris back as the anchor - he's hoping to be back some time in January so a little earlier but won't help for the group stages.

A couple of cute quotes in the local Lyon paper:

Ben Arfa apparently told his team mates just before KO he was going to score his first CL goal last night.

Just before the 'penalty' was taken, Juni told Vercoutre that he would save it and that Lyon were going to win. Nice support for a captain to provide.

Not so good news re injuries is that Eto'o is looking to be have recovered from his August injury and be back for the OL Barca match.
Evilo

Gomez wasn't offside on the goal. And Govou lost his man (the one that crossed the ball) on that play too.
And the fact is that Perrin subed three forwards and replaced them with one forward and two defensemen. Not even a midfielder.
guignol

and don't think for a minute that toulalan isn't 100% necessary to this team. and why think in terms of either/or? he and fabio santos would be great on the pitch together!
guignol

perrin's subs weren't so much for defense as, first, to bring out the most tired bodies and at the end, to break the rhythm.

it's true lyon didn't dominate the first half as outrageously as 3-1 would lead one to believe, and for long stretches in the second they were the ones being dominated, but they knew when to be the oak, when to be the reed... and when to be the wind. great work by both keppers aside, by rights the final score was 4-1 since lopez was pretty flagrantly offside on his second. the fight was pretty equal, but the difference came from the touches of genius from ben arfa, juni, and govou... HE was undoubtedly MOTM: not only was he involved in the OL's first three goals, he covered untold km, won duels in all four corners of the field, and lasted farther into the match than any other starter, at the end he was holding the victory together with spit and glue, heart and superb conditioning. the man.
Evilo

He's underrated and it shows. Toulalan's physical impact is not often talked about but yes he can be a brute. Probably not at Gattuso's level (but again who does?), but certainly as much as Diarra for instance.
Ush

I don't think Toulalan really bullies people. He works hard, covers alot of ground but he isn't the most commanding like for instance, Gennaro Gattuso is.
Evilo

Toulalan bullies people. Santos as well. And of course Cris is a bad boy.
Without two of them, this team's too soft.

Well at least they don't have Malouda anymore, the poster boy for being soft.
Ush

Cris is decent but he was poor against Roma at the Gerland. I was really hopin Lyon would get Heinze in the summer. Squllaci looks nervous without Cris as he doesn't have a good partnership with Anderson(yet). They need players that bully people like M.Diarra and Essien do.
Evilo

Not only wasn't there a foul on Gomez penalty, but to boot he hurt himself OUT OF THE BOX. The ref made two bad decision on one play. Incredible.

Anyway, I'm alarmed by a few things :
- Lyon's defense was horrible. I'm sorry but the team REALLY lacks Toulalan, who acts as a 5th defenseman. The CBs were left on an island and they're just bad without Cris. I was never a fan of Squillaci but yesterday's performance was simply putrid.
- Benzema is tired and needs to rest before he injures himself. I mean REALLY.
- Perrin made some changes that were too defensive. I understand he feared for his weak defense, but Keita playing as lone striker means the team can't counter attack and once this threat is taken away, Stuttgart can play all-out attack.
I would have kept two speedy forwards (like Keita+Govou or Keita+Ben Arfa or Govou+Ben Arfa) to force Stuttgart to play more defensive.
This is what happenned in Milan when Houllier made these defensive subs that killed the team (Carew as lone forward) and we know how it ended.
Jordo

Cris and Coupet will be back if we make it to the knockout stages, which should make a big difference if we can hold out till then. I think Squillaci is a great defender, and should always partner Cris in defence. As for fullbacks, Grosso is terrible at defending (probably b/c he was converted from an AM). Reveilleire is decent, but not fantastic. We just really need Cris and Coupet back. And a good fullback.
Ush

Inara : That's my real concern. Even if we do make it out of the groups, you won't win the champions league defending like that. Come the January window, I hope Aulas has his eyes on a quality centre half.
Jo

If we have such games every weeks at Gerland, I'll have a heart attack...
Jordo

lol, its just like 3 penalties i remember which were wrongly given were all missed. Coincidence.
Ush

Jordo : Nope, See Liverpool v Chelsea this season? Florent Maloudas penalty he got awarded, scored by Lampard and the game ended a 1-1 draw. Never a penalty, rough luck for Liverpool.
Jordo

Awesome game. Is it just me, or whenever a penalty is wrongly given, does the GK always seem to save it?
Salieri

AAAAAAAAAAAAH my alarm clock failed to wake me up at 4 am this morning

I missed one of the best Lyon's games this season ;(
lefutur

you bet your kit 'n kaboodle, jon. lyon are hot!

i don't know who the man of the match is today. could be vercoutre, could be ben arfa, could be kallstrom. all fine performances.

as for keita vs govou....govou won out today. that assist to set up kallstrom's goal? pretty darn sweet.
jon

wow. may have found a ligue 1 team to follow...
Musab

Yes, that was a beautiful game. "bodies were flying everywhere in this battle to the death"...hahaha
Isaiah

Well now it's a contest. Bring it on!