Beaten by Reims this Sunday (2-0), OL suffered their fifth defeat in seven games this season. The club’s situation worries Corentin Tolisso, who played his 200th match with the Rhone club.
OL continues to sink. Still looking for a first success this season, the Gones conceded their fifth defeat in seven games this Sunday on the pitch in Reims (2-0). Deprived of Alexandre Lacazette, the Lyonnais once again showed their defensive fragilities and their lack of offensive energy against Will Still’s team.
Last in the championship, Lyon is still not emerging from the crisis. A situation that worries Corentin Tolisso. “I think of the club, of the supporters. It’s really hard,” he admits to Prime Video at the final whistle. “We don’t have the right to be where we are. We had been solid but this goal at the end of the first half did us a lot of harm. We didn’t manage to be dangerous offensively. I don’t know what to tell you. Of course I’m affected. Since I was little, I’ve been supporter of OL and I have never seen the club in this position. Being a professional footballer at Olympique Lyonnais and putting the club in this situation, it hurts me more than anything.”
>> Relive Reims-OL (2-0)
“It’s up to us to talk to each other”
The 2018 world champion, who played his 200th match in Lyon colors during this 7th day, is aware that his club is “in a critical situation” but assures that the team “will not give up”. “We are last in the championship. There are still a lot of matches left. Today, if we look at the first seven days, what we are showing on the pitch is insufficient. We have to work a lot and we raise our heads. The supporters are more than disappointed, it’s up to us to talk to each other and say things to each other in the locker room. We hope to win the next match and take points.”
For his part, Anthony Lopes does not want to give up in the face of the worrying situation. “The team is very sick and we don’t have the necessary remedy. With what the group has shown, I want to believe it, confided the captain of the day in the mixed zone. We have to erase all this succession of small errors that we pay for in cash. There is a lot of negativity through bad results but we have to hold on to these reasons for hope. We cannot set this goal which would allow us to get on the good side. I will never give up. You have to know how to cope. There is worry of course because we are last. But everyone wants to get out of this, things have to change from the good side.”
Aulas calls for unity
Faced with the anger of the supporters, Jean-Michel Aulas called on them to continue to support their club in future matches. “The situation is serious. Criticizing the staff and the players would only serve to increase doubt about the future. They are the only ones who will get the club out of this extremely difficult but not desperate situation. Two matches at home to resume hope. It is an obligation for the people of Lyon,” wrote the honorary president of OL on X (formerly Twitter).
Two weeks after his arrival on the bench, Fabio Grosso sees “a light deep down” that he must look for. “There are positive things today. The small details change the matches. It was a balanced match and we gave a little gift at the end. But I believe in it. We have to continue working. We have to work in team. We will work hard. I asked the players to raise their heads and open their shoulders,” he recalled at a press conference.
Worst attack (3 goals scored) and worst defense in Ligue 1 (13 conceded), OL will play very big in the next two home matches, against Lorient on Sunday (3 p.m.) and against Clermont after the international break.