For its return to the European scene, two and a half years after a Europa League quarter-final against West Ham (1-1, 0-3), OL was spoiled during the draw. In this new Europa League format, the Lyon club will host the Greeks of Olympiakos in the first round this Thursday (8:45 p.m.), then the Turks of Besiktas and the Germans of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Except for the last reception of Ludogorets (Bulgaria), all these matches can be considered risky, given the reputation of the ultra groups accompanying these opponents. Enough to freak out on the side of the OL management and the authorities, especially when we know the explosive antecedent with Besiktas since 2017, right? 20 Minutes takes stock of these three meetings at the Parc OL.
Olympiakos like at home?
The OL management contacted the supporters’ groups of the two bends in July to remind them that they would be banned from the stadium for the first match this Thursday, due to a partial closed-door game. Some had forgotten this UEFA sanction. And for good reason, it dates back to the incidents that followed the chaotic elimination against West Ham in April 2022. The capacity of the Parc OL is therefore almost halved for the occasion (from 55,000 to 28,500). In this delicate context and given the negative dynamics in Ligue 1 (4 points taken out of 15), the attendance could be less than 25,000 spectators in Décines.
Will the (official) absence of all the Lyon ultras result in us being treated to 90 minutes of Greek chants for this start to the Europa League? In any case, around 1,000 Olympiakos supporters are expected in the away end. “The club is always well followed throughout Europe by its fans, especially after the historic moment of winning the Europa Conference League in Athens in May,” explains Dimitris Tomaras, a Greek journalist in Lyon for the media outlet Gazzetta.gr. “You should know that these supporters are not the type to cause problems. They are usually well organised to get to the stadium without incident.” Does the absence of the Lyon bends therefore reduce any risk of overflow to almost zero?

“It’s not PAOK Salonika, which has a higher proportion of hooligan profiles,” adds Martial Debeaux, a journalist who runs the X Olympiakos France account. “I was in the Olympiakos enclosure in Nantes in 2022 where there were only 500 of us, and where everything went well. I would be really surprised if there were incidents in Lyon, especially since there is no history between the two clubs.”
Besiktas, the meeting place of all dangers?
In terms of background, however, we will be provided with the reception of Besiktas on October 24. In the wake of the Europa League draw, Turks announced the color, by posting a photo on social networks with a banner “Are you ready, Lyon ultras? A second round?”. A reference to April 13, 2017, when multiple fights broke out around the Parc OL before the quarter-final first leg OL-Besiktas.
Hundreds of Lyonnais located in the south bend then had to rush onto the pitch to escape the agricultural bombs and firecrackers thrown by many Besiktas fans located above them, which caused a 45-minute delay in the kick-off. Because of OL’s lack of anticipation on its ticketing, the stadium had more than 20,000 Besiktas supporters that evening, many of whom lived in France and Germany.

The lesson has been learned by the club, which is currently considering the best ways to favour its subscribers and supporters (via the MyOL programme) to avoid the risk of repeating that evening of 14 April 2017, which was disastrous despite the 2-1 victory. Tickets for this clash remain completely closed to this day. So, to what extent will there be a risk of a “round 2” in a month’s time, when the Rhône prefecture may be tempted to ban a Turkish enclosure of 2,750 members?
“Besiktas fans have not forgotten anything and there could be an atmosphere of revenge,” explains Yusuf Kenan Calik, a journalist for Sky Spor and Ekol TV living in Istanbul. “But if an organizational problem does not repeat itself, we will not have the same images as seven years ago. The biggest risk, in my opinion, will be the night before in Lyon, where it will be harder to channel the meetings between the two camps. But even though the Turkish ultras are hot-blooded, they have not been involved in excesses since this match in Lyon.”
A new wave of clashes in Lyon and/or Décines could have repercussions on Lyon supporters… during the Fenerbahçe-OL match in Istanbul on January 23. Because yes, the draw for this C3 is hot, including away, where a trip by Lyon supporters to Azerbaijan (for Qarabag-OL on November 28) looks more than complex in view of the current ministerial recommendations.
Towards an invasion of Eintracht Frankfurt in Lyon?
If there is one club in Europe that is used to storming a foreign stadium like Besiktas did in 2017 in Décines, it is Eintracht Frankfurt. In 2013, there were already 12,000 supporters for a Europa League victory in Bordeaux (0-1). Then on April 14, 2022, around 30,000 German fans turned a stunned Camp Nou upside down, which played a role in the great performance of Kevin Trapp’s gang against FC Barcelona (2-3 in the quarter-final second leg).
“It was still a very special context: Barça fans were used to playing in the Champions League, so there wasn’t a huge amount of excitement about this Europa League match,” recalls Julian Franzke, a journalist following the winner of the 2022 Europa League for Kicker. In Frankfurt, there were years of suffering in D2 so there is a crazy expectation from the supporters for all these European matches. There, it was impressive to see all these white T-shirts in Barcelona, all these people having bought tickets at will and found a way to be at the stadium. There was a party atmosphere, without any real incident.
This is not always the case for Eintracht matches, due to the presence throughout Europe of the Ultras Frankfurt 97 but also of the Nassau Brigade, considered a real group of hooligans. Scenes of violence involving these two groups have been frequent in recent years, culminating in the 8th final return leg of the 2023 Champions League between Naples and Frankfurt (3-0). Despite being banned from traveling, nearly 600 German ultras landed in Italy to fight Neapolitans and the police in the middle of the city.
Our report on the Europa League
“This example shows that it is probably better for supporters to be in a stadium rather than in the city in order to control them,” says Julian Franzke. “Most Eintracht fans want to party, but it must be acknowledged that there is a violent minority. If, like many clubs, OL implements a restrictive policy on its ticketing, I cannot imagine that there will be even 10,000 German fans in Lyon.” As with Besiktas, and inspired by the relative success of the last Olympico on the subject, Olympique Lyonnais has marked this date of December 12 against Frankfurt, with particular attention paid to the process of possible resales of tickets.