It is an understatement to say that for Stade de Reims, the victory on penalties against Olympique Lyonnais in 16es of the Coupe de France final (0-0, 10-9 TAB) was a double feat. Already, because offering the scalp of ten times winners of the competition is not given to everyone, but also – and above all – because the women's section of the Champagne club is part, as we recall The Teamthe biggest victims of the financial restrictions imposed on D1 (men's) teams: between the departure of historic coach Amandine Miquel for Leicester and that of 12 players at the start of the season, the drastic reduction in payroll and six consecutive defeats to start the 2024-2025 financial year, nothing can minimize this oh-so-symbolic victory for the Marnaises.
Opposite, it's another lemonade. Logically stunned when they are used to starting each season with the objective of the triple championship, Cup, Champions League, the Lyonnaises have already burned out a cartridge. Nothing to completely panic about either. In D1, OL are coming off an easy victory against Dijon (2-0) and are now five points ahead of the Parisian rival, held back at the same time by Fleury (0-0). Say that the “ choc » of this Saturday evening will be capital seems a bit exaggerated, because, even in the event of victory at the Parc des Princes, the Parisiennes would still be two units behind the leaders of the classification, and with the introduction of Final Fourthe regular season is no longer the sole judge of the final result.
The same goes for the Champions League: despite an overall tightening of competition on a European scale, the Fenottes finished their group stage with a perfect score (18 points out of 18 possible) ahead of Wolfsburg, Roma and Galatasaray and are still among the big favorites before the draw for the final phase, scheduled for February 7. In other words, even without the planned treble, OL still have a chance to end their season by honoring their status.
Independence to what extent?
Despite this, it seems that the Lyon management wishes to put the jewels in their crown a little further aside, which have still brought them a whopping 28 titles since the last of the men's first team (the Champions Trophy). 2012, as a reminder). Last weekend, The Team revealed that John Textor, due to his desire to refocus his efforts around the pro team, would be on the verge of ceding the lease of the Académie des Gones to Michele Kang, president of the company that owns the women's section at height of 52%, with the aim of bringing Lyon's hopes closer to the pros by repatriating them to Décines. What looks like a nice deal (20 million in the coffers of OL against the possibility for Kang to build the 15,000-seat stadium that she dreams of for her team) would rather be a poisoned chalice: the land is in fact located Meyzieu, a 45-minute walk from Groupama Stadium (or 30 minutes by transport), lost between an aquatic center and a Carrefour Market. In other words, we are far from an attractive setting for a public which, despite increasing attendance figures for D1 stadiums, struggles to take the plunge of attending women's football matches day after day.
-Therefore, a question arises: if this new distance were to be confirmed, what would be the future of the women's section of Olympique Lyonnais which seems less and less attached to keeping its family jewels? Would the latter only have an interest in remaining linked to a club in the midst of a crisis, on and off the field, and still under the threat of precautionary relegation to Ligue 2? Conversely, Michelle Kang could take the gamble of recreating out of nothing an independent structure focused 100% on football played by women, notably consolidating the partnership signed upon its arrival with the Washington Spirits (which it also owns), a project that replaced that of the defunct OL Reign, which , since last summer, took the name of the city of Seattle where it is based. It would obviously be a big blow to the water, but at least the potential ex-OL would bring about a small revolution in the industry by going against the trend of men's clubs who treat their women's section as if they were -to be worth.
The strange programming of the 18th day of Ligue 1
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