→ Football has changed ©
Yes! Since this little sentence spoken by Kylian Mbappé at a press conference, a lot of things have changed in the world of football. Already, France is no longer world champion and has lost Hugo Lloris, Olivier Giroud, Raphaël Varane and Antoine Griezmann (that's a lot of people). Then Bayern dropped out of the Bundesliga, Leverkusen had their first time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi left Europe, while the world only had eyes for cyborgs Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyökeres. Well I promise, some things haven't changed. The PL still belongs to Manchester City and Guardiola, while the Champions League has become the property of Real Madrid.
→ Le Chaudron saw the best player in the world (from January 13 to June 2, 2024)
22 matches, 10 goals, 3 assists. That's it for the raw numbers. But for your friend who comes out of a coma, it will be very difficult to understand the exceptional atmosphere which surrounded the Greens and Saint-Étienne during the reign of Irvin Cardona 1is of the name. In six months in Forez, the striker amazed Ligue 2 and offered crazy moments, like with his incredible goal against Bordeaux. For half a season, Cardona no longer touched the ground and neither did Sainté! Frankly, we would have very well seen him showing his jersey to the Bad Gones, Nabil Fekir style.
→ The stars of the Euro arrive in the derby!
Dani Olmo? Nico Williams? Ollie Watkins? Lamine Yamal? No, we're talking to you about the real stars of the summer: Zuriko Davitashvili and Georges Mikautadze. Free electron and Georgia's top scorer during the great mass of European football, the two summer recruits could not resist the charm of playing in the derby, and the entire continent envied OL and ASSE at the time. when they are signed. In reality, Davitashvili's club lost everything, and Mikautadze's was relegated by… Sainté precisely. But you don't need to tell your friend that.
→ Lyon almost joined the Greens
The derby in the Rhône is an institution. So when Saint-Étienne went down, the supporters had to mourn their annual double confrontation, without the slightest idea of a return date. So last year, to please their supporters, the Lyonnais did everything to find their best enemies, to the point of monopolizing the bottom of the ranking and seriously considering playing for the entire season. Finally, everything is back to normal and Lyon is even European. But frankly, what were we laughing at when we saw Lyon last and announced in Ligue 2 by all possible statistics (we had a good laugh).
→ The stadium will be full
So for this one, hold your friend's arm tightly because he's going to hallucinate. The end of the world has passed, Covid is over and the stadiums can once again be filled to capacity – except at Louis-II. The derby will therefore be played in a Groupama Stadium with well-filled stands, while that of January 2022 was played with a capacity of 5,000 souls in the stands. Quite a change.
→ North America fell in love with the region
Watch your eyes, prepare the tissues. Exit Jean-Michel Aulas (yes, yes, it will be a derby without responsibility for Jean-Mi), exit Roland Romeyer and also exit Bernard Caïazzo. That's causing a stir, and it also means that new faces have arrived at both clubs, with a strong North American accent. Because Lyon was bought by the greedy John Textor and his American group Eagle Football Holding, while Saint-Étienne came under the Canadian flag, after its purchase by the Kilmer Sports group. With a broadcast at 8:45 p.m., however, competition will be tough with the NFL to create real enthusiasm on the other side of the Atlantic.
→ Both teams filled the trophy cabinet
No, in reality, that's false, but hey, there has to be a little lie in this story. Even in Ligue 2, Saint-Étienne failed to win the title, having to go through the play-offs to move up, while opposite, Lyon only reached a small Coupe de France final, where they pales in comparison to PSG. Move around, there's nothing to see.
→ Les Gones have lost exceptional midfielders
Hard to believe it, but two years and nine months ago, Lucas Paquetá and Bruno Guimarães were still players for Olympique Lyonnais and were clearly enjoying their prime. Except that since then, the two Brazilians have given in to the sirens of the Premier League, while Houssem Aouar, formerly resident in midfield alongside them, left for Saudi Arabia after a failed stint at Roma. In short, the result is that today, it is Nemanja Matić, Jordan Vererout and Corentin Tolisso who are officiating in their place. If we do not doubt their qualities or the personal involvement of Tolisso, we would understand that the Lyon supporters would have a little pang in their hearts when looking back.
Lyon Saint-Étienne prediction: Analysis, odds and prediction of the Ligue 1 poster
