A turning point. The latter was a pivotal moment in the season of Olympique Lyonnais. The Gones had several key dates. The first was Wednesday in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. While they were far from being favorites, Rudi Garcia’s men won 1-0. They especially mastered the Old Lady perfectly in the first half, before holding out in the second half despite the Turin assaults . With this success, the Olympians still have every chance to qualify in a fortnight. After this generous entry, OL followed up with the main dish on Sunday during the derby against the sworn enemy, AS Saint-Etienne. And there again, the Lyonnais were good. They won 2-0, thanks to a double from Moussa Dembélé, showing themselves to be interesting again in the game. This was particularly the case in the first period, where ASSE did not exist against Lyon (78% possession).
After this great week, Jean-Michel Aulas could only have a smile in the mixed zone. “Let’s say the week started off well with the victory against Juventus. We will have to pursue it. Above all, we saw a match of very high quality, especially the first half. I hadn’t seen Olympique Lyonnais at this level for some time. We had already seen the team at a good level in the first half against Juventus. So it’s very nice. This is proof that sometimes when you get impatient about the quality of the game, you have to be patient. We have seen that these players had them when they were encouraged. They know how to come out of quality matches. When it’s against Saint-Etienne, it’s doubly pleasing ”. Like its president, Rudi Garcia also congratulated its players. Despite the fatigue, they were able to produce and win the game, which was not always the case this year.
Success and play, OL’s double victory
“We missed scoring earlier on our highlights. Our first period is quite remarkable, but it’s a game that we have to fold before overtime in the second period. I found us very leggy, all the players, at least better than them (the Stéphanois) on this plan. We were not rewarded, we had contrary video decisions. We are solid, we knew that a derby is not played, it is won, but here we also played. We have worked a lot on this Saint-Etienne team, on the right, on the left … We must still have more presence on the centers in the area. The watchword is to recover and think about the Coupe de France semi-final against Paris. We have just aligned three wins in a row, we are consistent, we must continue “. Often tough this season, Lyon is on time. What make JMA proud.
“We were on the razor’s edge. We didn’t know which way we were going to fall. You could fall on the wrong side. The match against Metz was the trigger. We said it could be quite exceptional. It will be anyway because we will have this match against Juventus to, perhaps, play the quarter-finals, we will play the final of the League Cup (April 4) and then we will play this semi-final (French Cup) against Paris. For a team that has been much criticized, it’s a great revenge. Like tonight, facing Saint-Etienne. You have to encourage them and tell them that they played well, and write it down above all, because that’s the reality. They showed an incredible will both against Juventus and against ASSE, which allows when you have talent to have results “. Lyonnais talents will have the opportunity to continue with a five-star dessert on Wednesday, as Houssem Aouar said. “We still want to win against PSG to continue this series but also to play a second cup final, especially that we will play Wednesday again in front of our audience”. A success and a qualification for the final of the Coupe de France would be the icing on the cake of an OL decidedly never where it is expected this season!