At the Vélodrome stadium,
The fall of Anthony Lopes on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s third goal for Olympique de Marseille, before collapsing on the pitch at the Vélodrome stadium, arms dangling, almost alone symbolizes the state of Olympique Lyonnais . Like its goalkeeper, the club was already completely groggy even before the hour mark (55th), during the heavy defeat inflicted by rival Marseille (3-0), Wednesday, in a late match of the 10th day of Ligue 1 .
Poor Lopes, more accustomed to disgusting Marseille supporters in recent years, had already found himself in a very bad way by ending up in the back of the net, in front of the hilarious south turn, after Murillo’s powerful header on a textbook action ( 25th). OL had already been condemned five minutes earlier by OM’s unprecedented attack, when Aubameyang had the superb idea of playing collectively with Vitinha (21st), rather than shooting.
“We were completely out of control throughout the match”
Unprecedented like the 3-5-2 aligned by Marseille coach Gennaro Gattuso which completely disrupted the Lyonnais, to the point of storming the sides. Like the first two goals. “The game did not match the intensity of OM. Just like the tactical problems that we had difficulty resolving,” conceded Pierre Sage, the OL coach, who needed to wait until half-time to readjust his team. Without much effect since the Lyonnais were “completely out of control throughout the match”, and when OM scored and Lopes collapsed, “it was as if the end of the match had been whistled” he was forced to admit.
An impotence synonymous with a scathing defeat during which the Lyonnais showed absolutely nothing. Well yes, a clown jersey almost as distressing as their level, but mandatory. Worrying for OL after showing some good sequences of play during the “encouraging” defeat against Lens (3-2) last week. “It’s difficult for my players, he had raised his head in Lens, they arrived with convictions, with expectations and the desire to fight. But they quickly realized that the first leg would be complicated for the reasons mentioned. It can recreate doubt,” even worried Pierre Sage, for his second match at OL’s bedside.
“You just have to watch the match to understand why we are last”
A lot of doubt for a single certainty on the Lyon side, that of being stuck in the crisis, in last place in Ligue 1. And the mission turns out to be more and more complicated, without any progress as the days go by.
“You just have to look at the ranking to be aware of the danger,” admitted the Lyon technician. But if we give up today, there is no more hope and I don’t think that is the case. We have to take points, but it is obvious that the match of [mercredi] is not going in the right direction. You just have to look at it to understand why we are last.”
Not sure that he will still be there after Olympique Lyonnais’ next three matches before the break, against Toulouse, Monaco and Nantes, but the club must react very quickly, and the latest choices do not necessarily give hope to the supporters. No more than this statistic from Opta: None of the last 14 teams to have scored 7 points or less after 14 League matches has escaped relegation since the 1947-1948 season. It’s up to OL to make the statistics lie, but a new Ligue 1 monument is in danger.