70 million banked, and a deeper squad
Malick Fofana is gone. Afonso Moreira too. In the final hours of the window.
You could have called it a botched summer in Lyon. Matthieu Louis-Jean doesn’t see it that way.
“We could have done better, but we sold for around 70 million euros, which is quite a lot,” the sporting director said after the win over Auxerre. “We could still see tonight that we have a full squad. That was what we wanted to build with the recruitment team and Paulo Fonseca. We had to be stronger than last season, especially when it comes to rotation. We’re better equipped.”
Kaïl Boudache, Mads Bidstrup, Zachary Athekame, Loïs Openda. Four summer arrivals. They’ve all already had minutes.
Try it for $0.99.
Bacher and Athekame did the rest
The 3-1 win over Auxerre on Friday night had the stamp of the new boys on it.
Felix Bacher opened the scoring. The defender is bedding in at the heart of the back line alongside Moussa Niakhaté, game by game.
Athekame made it two with a strike from the edge of the box, reward for a huge shift down the right.
Up front, Ernest Nuamah and Openda linked up well. The Belgian didn’t score. He owns that.
“I tried a lot, but next time it will go in. The important thing was the win and we needed to bounce back after last week’s disappointment. I wasn’t clinical enough in front of goal, but we’ll work on that and fix it going forward.”
Fonseca refuses to get carried away
Athekame, though, is already buying in. “We have very good players up front. Others can also come on during the game, like Kaïl, who helped us a lot on the flank. We’ve got Ernest, we’ve got Loïs, and plenty of others. Right now, we’ve got a very strong group. We’re going after every game this season.”
Paulo Fonseca is keeping his feet on the ground.
“You’re talking about the scorers, but Mads had a huge game with so much intensity. He can be important for us. I’m pleased, because we have a very good group. But there are still plenty of things to improve if we want to keep progressing. I want to stay measured. The season is long.”
The context explains the caution. Lyon were knocked out in the Champions League play-offs by Fenerbahce before a dull 1-1 draw at Le Havre. Second in Ligue 1 with seven points from three matches, the club is breathing a little easier. The new 4-4-2 is holding up. Openda, meanwhile, is still waiting for his first goal in Lyon colours.
Discover more football news on our website and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply