The derby against the Greens, “a question of life and death”

Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Friday November 8, 2024 at 4:39 p.m.

After their disappointment at Hoffenheim, the Lyonnais are only thinking about the derby against the Greens, back on Sunday. Even newcomers, like former Rennais Warmed Omari.

Three days before the derby against its neighbor Saint-Etienne, back in Ligue 1 after two seasons in its antechamber, Olympique Lyonnais could not do better than a draw, for the third time in a row, Thursday evening on the Hoffenheim lawn (2-2). Alexandre Lacazette, replacing at kick-off, thought he had given the visitors victory in added time of this match on the 4th day of the Europa League (90th+3), but Umut Tohumcu equalized a few moments later (90th+ 5). An infuriating outcome for Pierre Sage, very angry at the press conference, before looking ahead to his first derby as OL coach: “We are going to approach the derby with the obligation to win and give everything. We We will ensure that our match and our result live up to the expectations of our public. We know that it is important to win this first derby.”

“It’s victory or nothing”

Arriving from Rennes in the off-season, defender Warmed Omari (24), starting for the first time at Hoffenheim, has already understood the importance of this meeting. “A derby, you have to win it. I know how much the supporters love these kinds of matches. It's one of the most important matches for the team: it's victory or nothing. It's a question of life and death,” he told OL Play. His teammate Maxence Caqueret, a child of Vénissieux trained at OL, is a regular at derbies, and he did not fail to point out how it is “an important match for all the people of Lyon. I can tell you that we are going to prepare now for this match, and we want to win this derby at all costs.” The Stéphanois, already well motivated by this trip to their historic rivals, have been warned…