Every year it’s the same story. Lyon destroy the opposition in Ligue 1 and fail to make an impact in Europe.
Last weekend’s 4-2 win over Bordeaux in a top-of-the-table clash means Lyon are six points clear at the top with 10 games left and poised to win a seventh consecutive title.
A few days before that, they had lost 1-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford to disappear from the Champions League in the first knockout round for the second year running. The three years before that, they had left in the quarter-finals. In a class of their own in France for years, they have never advanced beyond the last eight of European club football’s showcase event.
So what’s the problem?
Ligue 1 clubs, with minimal TV rights compared to what teams from the other major European leagues get, are not rich enough to keep their best players, not to mention attract top names. Take Franck Ribery, blossoming at Bayern Munich after leaving Marseille and now saying he can’t imagine playing for a French club again, not even Lyon.
That’s one problem. But you could also argue that Lyon are not trying very hard to keep their best assets. Once a big club makes a lucrative offer, off they go. Michael Essien, Florent Malouda and Eric Abidal, to name just a few, are now all grazing from more glamorous pastures.
Chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, the boss of a software company who has turned Lyon from a sleepy provincial sideto France’s best team, is now promising his latest jewel, striker Karim Benzema, will not go anywhere. The Lyon fans can only hope he will keep his word .
Over the past few years, Lyon have made a fortune by selling players and reinvested little in reinforcements. Why? Probably because Aulas needs cash to finance a new stadium to be ready in 2010.
A new stadium is fine but you need a fine team to play in it. Can Lyon have that? If they keep Benzema and his mate Hatem Ben Arfa, who’s just as special, maybe.
Patrick Vignal, Paris
PHOTO: Cris walks off after Lyon lose at Manchester United, March 4 REUTERS/Darren Staples
Trackback
2 comments so far
I GUESS THE STANDARD OF THE FRENCH LEAGUE IS LOW AS COMPARED TO OTHER LEAGUES IN EUROPE.IT IS BORING TO SEE ONE TEAM WINNING THE LEAGUE ALMOST ALL SEASONS.
- Posted by RENDANI PHARAMELAI don’t find it boring that Lyon have been winning the league all these consecutive years.
The first year they won it, they came from behind to overtake Lens. And since then, they’ve been holding onto their gains. I find Lyon really interesting, and my ties are to Bordeaux.
Patrick’s premise, “Lyon too big for France, too small for Europe” is right, but they are so close to being big enough for Europe.
Is there resentment among fans that M. Diarra and Essien were sold? Surely not too much; I think Lyon is one of football’s most well-run clubs and they are definitely moving in the right direction to be winners in Europe: new stadium, hugely-content, growing fanbase, cracking young players.
Having written all that, I’m suddenly in the mood to order a Lyon replica Jersey.
- Posted by Jeff/433