All the Lyon supporters were euphoric as rarely on Tuesday, two days after a miraculous qualification in the Europa League. To top it off, OL opened the doors to the professional group training session that day, before the Coupe de France final this Saturday (9 p.m.) in Lille against Paris Saint-Germain.
Everything looked good, with the names of Pierre Sage and Anthony Lopes chanted in unison, the song dedicated to the hero of the end of the season Alexandre Lacazette. Then very quickly came another song, more unexpected but just as popular, “Barcola, n…. your mother “.
NTM
This was launched for the first time by the Lyon corners on September 3, 2023, in the wake of the juicy transfer of Bradley Barcola to PSG (50 million euros, bonus included). This OL-PSG (1-4) in Ligue 1 therefore marked the rapid reunion, and in a deleterious atmosphere, between the 21-year-old player and his training club.
Since then, this insulting chant has been regularly launched in the aisles of Parc OL, and it will undoubtedly accompany the Parisian warm-up in Lille. But how could the young striker selected by Didier Deschamps for Euro 2024 become the public enemy number one of Lyon supporters, squarely ahead of Claudio Beauvue and Karl Toko Ekambi?
Great academy
When we know the passionate attachment linking OL fans for life to the majority of players who came out of the “formidable academy” (hello Karim), and we think back to the spectacular emergence of Bradley Barcola in the Lyon jersey in 2023 (5 goals and 9 assists in his last 17 games), after 13 years at the club, this seems to be a mystery. 20 minutes describes five key episodes of an electric year between the two camps, with insight from Lyon supporters.
July 1, 2023: Barcola joins Jorge Mendes
Four months of (very) high level in Ligue 1, after being close to a loan to modest club St. Gallen (Swiss D1) in January 2023, were enough to place Bradley Barcola in the sights of world boss of football agents Jorge Mendes. So much so that in the middle of the transfer window, the announcement by his agency Polaris Sports on social networks (“A new star joins the team”) marks a turning point.
Vincent (32-year-old supporter): “That day, I said to myself “curtain”. Rayan Cherki had certainly become closer to the Mbappé family without joining PSG behind. But I feel that for Barcola, his adventure with us is unfortunately over. This validates the fact that we are facing a young mercenary player, who fits both current football and the institution desired by Jean-Michel Aulas. OL had become a giant sheepfold, where players like Ndombele and Aouar found themselves offered to big clubs before they even wanted to leave Lyon.
July 22, 2023: The player posts an enigmatic photo
The link (obviously) established Barcola-Mendes-PSG is starting to panic the media dealing with the transfer window. And then surprise, Bradley Barcola publishes in a story Instagram a photo of him as a child, in the OL jersey, with an image of a lion and red and blue hearts. A month earlier, in a interview at The Team, he insisted on his wish to stay in Lyon: “I have a season to confirm. We must not forget that I have only done six months. I’m happy at OL, I don’t see why I would leave. I need to have a full season as a starter.”
Quentin (23-year-old Lyon supporter): “When I discover this story, I tell myself straight away that he is sure to stay at the club and that he wants to silence the rumors. It can’t mean anything else in the context of the transfer window, he can’t play with us like that… For me, he’s taking the opportunity to show that he has unconditional love for the club. When we see the rest of the story, it’s hurtful, we had the feeling of being stabbed in the back.”
September 3, 2023: Parc OL insults its ex-striker
From the warm-up of the Parisian players, then at the announcement of the team compositions, a bronca and all-out insults follow one another at Parc OL for this Lyon-PSG. The real hatred of the corners against Bradley Barcola redoubled when he came into play at the end of the match, with therefore this famous song that goes around in a loop.
Manon (23-year-old supporter present in the north turn that evening): “Barcola left the ship in the worst possible period, when we needed his talent and we could not recruit behind him because of the sanctions of the DNCG. I am the first to boo and whistle at him during this match, then I participate in this chant, even with pleasure. It’s part of football but I’m aware that insulting him, and even worse insulting his mother, adds animosity. But he’s a club kid and he’s supposed to respect that crest. I understand his rage towards the supporters but he could have a minimum of respect towards the institution, and the trainers and members of the staff who participated in its success.
April 21, 2024: Barcola houses the Lyon parking lot
Like seven months earlier in Décines, the Lyon supporters present at the Parc des Princes insulted their former player before the match. In response, he vigorously celebrated the two quick first goals of PSG (which were not his) by voluntarily heading towards the Rhone park to challenge him.
Sébastien (40-year-old Lyon supporter): “It wouldn’t have really bothered me if he celebrated PSG’s goals, but that means being happy with his partners. This is not the case, his first idea is to go and provoke the guys in the parking lot. He doesn’t grow with this attitude. Sportingly, he did well to join Paris, but from a human point of view, he became an outcast in his favorite club.”
April 22, 2024: “The justice of God” has struck
The day after this match easily won by PSG (4-1), Bradley Barcola posted a mysterious new message on his Instagram account. We see him celebrating Marco Asensio’s goal towards the Lyon supporters, with the sole message “the justice of God”.
Gary (Lyon supporter, 40 years old): “For me, the post Instagram is even more serious than the provocative celebration of the day before. Bradley had the opportunity to correct the cold turkey: if he had explained on the networks that he would always respect OL, that could have calmed a lot of things. In view of his message, he acts like a victim and he seems not to regret his action.”
“A somewhat limited celebration” according to Tolisso
If Lyon supporters are unanimously revolted by the behavior of Bradley Barcola during the last PSG-OL, what about his former teammates? 20 minutes asked Corentin Tolisso about this on Tuesday. This reveals that the Lyon locker room had a good time welcome the Parisian striker after this match at the Parc des Princes, the 2018 world champion sees certain faults in him.
“ Frankly, I don’t blame him for leaving last summer, he says. He was offered something that he couldn’t necessarily refuse at that age. On the other hand, his celebration was a little limited and we can blame him a little. It’s a small youthful mistake that he made in euphoria, he will realize it sooner or later. He may have mishandled the supporters’ insults. But he made the choice to leave and I don’t think he can blame the supporters for blaming him. They considered him a child of the club and if he got there, it’s also thanks to them. »
This celebration of the native of Lyon, which is more reminiscent of trash talk ultimate by Emmanuel Adebayor during a Manchester City-Arsenal match in 2009 that the usual restraint of a player facing his training club was not appreciated by the club’s management either. One of Bradley Barcola’s former trainers at OL, Eric Hély, then head of the national U19s and the Youth League, assures: “There may have been some blunders due to youth but Bradley is a good person . He has always been very attached to OL and proud to be from Lyon. I suspect that emotionally, the supporters have difficulty accepting this transfer. But you have to understand that everyone got what they wanted, OL and the player alike. Young people represent the main market value for a club like Lyon.”
A salary almost multiplied by seven at PSG
Former emblematic trainer at OL, Armand Garrido adds: “Barcola took it all on his head because, in my opinion, he was poorly advised in his communications. But the club was not going to deprive itself of a check for 50 million euros, especially when we remember that Houssem Aouar had left free, while OL had refused 335 m from Arsenal three years earlier . Didn’t OL finally make Barcola leave more than he wanted to leave Lyon? “.
In view of the vagueness maintained by John Textor since this 2023 summer transfer window, with the late departures of the club’s hopefuls Lukeba and Barcola, whom he had nevertheless presented as non-transferable a few weeks earlier, the question is legitimate. “No one was clear about this transfer and this mismanagement led to a total lack of understanding among supporters,” said Daniel Cheraitia, president of AS Buers, a neighborhood club in Villeurbanne where Bradley Barcola started playing football. All this affected Bradley, who gave everything for the club and who comes from an endearing and very well-educated family. »
OUR FILE ON OL
A close friend of the ex-Lyon winger goes further: “People don’t realize that Bradley struggled for a long time before getting some playing time at OL. The supporters took revenge on him but even the most extreme Bad Gone would have accepted such a contract, with a salary increasing from 80,000 to 550,000 euros per month. A major argument, but which will not prevent the famous insulting chant from still resounding, this Saturday at the Pierre Mauroy stadium.