OL always have two paths to reach Europe. By winning the Coupe de France, on April 25, in Lille, against PSG, or by finishing at least in seventh place in Ligue 1. But to have a little more chance of winning their first trophy since 2012, OL will have to, perhaps, not field his best possible team on Sunday in Clermont, a team he has only beaten once in the Championship. Six players, in fact, are under threat of a card on Sunday, which would deprive them of the Coupe de France final: Alexandre Lacazette, Ernest Nuamah, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Corentin Tolisso, Saïd Benrahma and Nicola Tagliafico.
But during his press conference, Pierre Sage refused to leak the slightest clue about the choices that will be made: “We spoke with the players, we had fairly frank discussions without pressure to see the state of mind that emerged. A position will be adopted, which I cannot reveal to you. » Faced with questions that have multiplied on the subject, the Lyon coach remained on the defensive: “This situation has a big influence on the press conference, but on the locker room too, he conceded. But there is no hierarchy between the Championship and the Cup. We have a duty to win in Clermont. Should we have taken boxes earlier? I cannot understand this attitude. In Lille, if the players had thought about the cards instead of turning the tide, the tide would have stayed where it was…”
At the same time, Pierre Sage stressed that no final decision was taken for the name of the goalkeeper, Anthony Lopes or the Brazilian Lucas Perri, in the final of the Coupe de France. Or rather, he made it clear that he will announce it when the time comes: “There is no question of communicating too early on this. And it’s a decision I will make alone. »
