Pierre Sage’s OL, 2024-2025 version, is a standard team. Even a five-episode series. After a sluggish start to the season with only one victory during the first five days of the championship, the Gones have since the fall resumed their conquering march from last season. Apart from a small dip of three draws around All Saints’ Day, it’s 9 victories in 14 matches. Suffice it to say that on the 15thethis Thursday against Eintracht Frankfurt, can propel Lyon into a great dimension.
Don’t look like sausages against Frankfurt
Before welcoming the residents of the Main, a sweet scent of serenity hangs over the Olympique Lyonnais. The recent good results have boosted the morale of the troops and the fact of being in the lead in the Europa League, with 10 points synonymous with seventh place and provisional direct qualification for the round of 16, is no stranger to this. Like this peaceful group, where “disruptive” elements like Gift Orban or Wilfried Zaha no longer have their napkin ring, Rayan Cherki has been soaring since his extension, with already four goals and four assists this season.
Present in front of the press on the eve of the match, the local kid translated this fulfillment in an almost philosophical way: « I haven’t changed much, I’ve always been a player who loves football and work. I just found the man, the footballer I wanted to be. That’s what makes the difference. » Rooming alongside his teammates Tolisso and Fofana in front of the microphones, father Cherki plays liberated and the whole of OL benefits. What if the case of little Rayan could be transposed to the entire group? Pierre Sage seems to be of this opinion, considering that « Rayan knew how to link his talent to his objectives and the perspectives he wanted to give himself ».
Invited to speak before the reception of the Bayern dolphins in the Bundesliga, “ Stone Wise » mentioned the subject without shying away. If he recalled that the « building a workforce takes time »he stressed the need to string together good performances, and not just over a month or a few weeks. « Performing well over 5 or 10 matches is within the reach of many teams. Great teams remain successful over 40 games and multiple seasons »he asked. Faced with a team in great shape and supported by players who have been working hard since mid-August, such as Hugo Ekitike, Omar Marmoush and Hugo Larsson, Sage sets a lucid and clear backdrop for what this meeting represents for his team: « This match will allow us to assess where we are. » A victory, and Lyon could at best secure a top 4, enough to consider that the Lyonnais are in the right place, at the best of times.
Bring your bugnes to Paris
If the Rhone residents did indeed experience a little slack between the end of October and the beginning of November, they have after all only experienced defeat once since September 22 – and an incredible setback against Marseille – against Beşiktaş, in a match that they should never have lost, due to lack of offensive efficiency. Except that Lyon has just scored at least three goals in its last three outings, against Nice, Qarabağ and Angers, and its attackers have found the right fuel. So much so that we wonder if Cherki, Fofana, Lacazette, Mikautadze and Benrahma do not constitute the finest offensive quinté in France. Like a symbol, Corentin Tolisso is having fun behind all these beautiful people, and seeing the Lyonnais impose themselves in the capital would hardly be incongruous if we rely on the different dynamics.
Facing Paris on Sunday, they will come up against some big names from the championship in the exercise and especially the best defense in Ligue 1, which has only conceded 11 small goals so far. The perfect time to assert oneself, while in the event of success, which would constitute the first Parisian domestic defeat of the season, the top 5 could be held in a pocket handkerchief. On Wednesday, Rayan Cherki spoke of his desire to « have fun on the pitch, give pleasure to others and bring back a bit of football from before ». That’s good for him, because in football before, a Frankfurt-PSG sequence, it looked like a walk in the park for Olympique Lyonnais.
Rayan Cherki: “I found the footballer I want to be”
