As the heat of the game slowly evaporated, two Germans met in all solidarity in the center circle. Jérôme Boateng and Alexander Nübel, the former world champion and the former Manuel Neuer challenger, went into the quick analysis immediately after the final whistle in France’s duel between Lyon and Monaco. You know each other from days together in Munich, but this time there were a few words among opponents.
There was no doubt that Boateng emerged as the winner of the day with his new club: With the 2-0 (0-0), the Lyonnais overtook the club from the principality in the table – Olympique is now fifth, Monaco seventh, the gap to leaders PSG enormous.
Seldom before has there been a major get-together for alumni from the Bundesliga
But that was only part of the story of this game. The other was that in Ligue 1 there had seldom been a bigger get-together for alumni from the Bundesliga. No less than eight ex-German footballers took part over the 90 minutes in the Olympique Stadium if you counted coaches Peter Bosz (Lyon) and Niko Kovac (Monaco). The other participants besides Boateng and Nübel: Kevin Volland (formerly Hoffenheim and Leverkusen), Ismail Jakobs (Cologne), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bavaria) and Julian Pollersbeck (HSV).
The 27-year-old goalkeeper moved to Lyon in 2020, and now he celebrated his starting XI debut in France because goalkeeper Anthony Lopez was canceled because of a red card. The U21 European champion from 2017, like Nübel (six parades), had some useful moments – and yet in the end the French sports press looked at Boateng’s appearance with the greatest astonishment. “Like a rock” it was in the back, judged the sports newspaper L.‘Equipe on the 33-year-old’s most powerful lecture so far since his arrival from Munich this summer.
In fact, Boateng once again showed all the skills that set him apart: sublime game opening, anticipation in a duel, skill on the ball, the speed with his giant strides. The Monegasque with their offensive series around Volland and Wissam Ben Yedder never got past him decisively. Volland presented himself with two smaller opportunities, he had to leave the pitch prematurely in the 71st minute after the most recent impressive performances. Even for Jakobs defender it was only enough for a part-time assignment after being substituted on.
“Lyon are the deserved winners”, Kovac admitted afterwards, his team was not able to do much this time after six games without defeat with the usual physical Kovac football. The coach, who has just turned 50, looked like his team impressed: “I thought Olympique was strong last year, but now they have brought in more good players”. The former Munich coach is likely to have meant the Swiss Shaqiri and the Brazilian Emerson, who came from Chelsea, in addition to his then defender Boateng (a complicated relationship).
Lyon’s fine foot Lucas Paqueta, whom Bosz had made competitive in the first place with special treatment, also proved to be decisive in the game: he sent the Brazilian international to play on matchday just a few hours after his return from an international match in the deepest Amazon (4-1 against Uruguay in Manaus) Siesta to the hotel while the team went for a walk. “It was a real risk to use him after these hardships,” said the ex-BVB coach, “but it turned out well.”
After his substitution, Paqueta presented himself as a driver and was subsequently named “Demolition Manager” for his short-time work (L’Équipe) celebrated against Monaco’s defensive tactics. Just when the guests showed more initiative thanks to Volland, the midfielder took over the game in the second half. His through pass to colleague Léo Dubois initiated the scene for which there was a penalty in the 75th minute (Cameroon’s Toko Ekambi scored 1-0). Shortly before the end, Paqueta then sent a deep pass to Emerson on the left, who put Jason Denayer 2-0 (90th).
Lyon’s Belgian defender paid homage to Paqueta on TV afterwards Canal +: “He’s such a good player. Whenever he comes on the field, he makes the difference for us in an individual way.” Boateng also shared this praise: “Paqueta played in Brazil yesterday and then this performance here today, that’s really great,” said the defender. “With this win we are back at the front, today it worked out well – also because we didn’t concede a goal.” And he himself had his part in that.